Five crucial points stand out in IDCI Blue Bombers TVRA AA South East championship

Blue Bombers Femke Opden-Keider (left) and Charlotte De Wit hit the deck in pursuit of an East Elgin serve. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Post Correspondent

The Ingersoll DCI Blue Bombers senior girls’ volleyball team’s Thames Valley Regional Athletics South East championship was built on countless hours of tryouts, practices, exhibition, tournament, league and playoff games, ultimately leading to one best-of-five-set final.

But amongst the literally thousands of points contested during that run, five from the TVRA AA semi-final match Feb. 12 at St. Thomas Parkside against the Aylmer East Elgin Eagles will stand out.

Athletic pursuits months in the making can be decided in a few brief moments, victory and defeat separated by the sharpest of razor’s edge.

That magic doesn’t always happen, rarely so. Often, one team is dominant, outcomes predictable. The right combination of balanced competition and build-up is a thing which can’t be manufactured or controlled, no matter how much one tweets. And whether it plays out in overtime in front of millions of viewers or in a high school gym populated by friends and family members, it’s truly special.

A big part of the ‘why’ we play, watch and celebrate.

It’s dangerous to put too much emphasis only on who won or lost, given it took equally matched partners to create this intricate dance. A lot has gone down both on the court and in terms of support from the bench to get to this crucial nexus point. And one can celebrate an 0-fer season rich with growth, development and enjoyment. However, victory and loss do help define athletic pursuit, inherent to its combined beauty and cruelty - who bends but does not break an element of fairness in outcomes often also containing fortuitous circumstance.

With two 25-point set victories apiece, the score in the fifth and deciding set to 15 stood at 10-10. In general terms, Aylmer had built on early five and seven-point advantages courtesy of strong serving from its talented setter Sophie Nagelhout in winning the first and third sets, displaying tenacious defence throughout.

“Great rallies,” said IDCI Grade 11 starter Charlotte De Wit, whose power from that designated position was a factor in the outcome. “They’re a great team, really good hitters.

“Their defence is definitely their strong suit,” added De Wit, who more than once, figured Ingersoll had won the point. “And all of a sudden, they’ve got it up.”

A comparatively young and inexperienced Bombers lineup answered with two set victories, staving off elimination in the fourth, featuring a strong shared presence at the middle of the net along with an aggressive attack from both the power position and consistency from the off side. Setting the table fell to Kate-Lynn Morin, who tried to keep everyone involved.

“Which was enough I guess,” she smiled.

Nagelhout was next in rotation to serve for the Eagles when De Wit, IDCI’s answer to her serving prowess, stepped to the line. Her strong first serve provided an advantage capitalized on with an Eagles kill attempt into the net. On De Wit’s second serve, a subsequent kill from teammate Femke Opden-Keider was dug up with difficulty, creating a free ball, Bombers killed and a 12-10 lead resulting in an East Elgin time-out.

It did not stem the IDCI tide, the Bombers taking a 13-10 advantage on an Eagles kill into the net. Ingersoll middle Katie Pilkey pushed the Eagles to the brink and into a second time out with a block on a tip attempt. Janelle Boyse, the definition of power both at the net and with a jump service, threw in an unexpected deep tip that dropped for set and match point.

“I try to mix it up a bit,” she smiled, ‘still shaky’ from the dramatic finish.

“It was like the best we’ve ever played, probably,” added Abby Greenwood.

East Elgin is always a tough opponent credited Bombers coach Sean Pellow, a Level IV ‘coach of coaches’ who also mentors the London Fanshawe College women’s team. The semi-final win included a Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association (WOSSAA AA) berth.

“We’re there and that was step one,” said Pellow. “And that was not an easy match.”

The Bombers played the host Parkside Stampeders in the TVRA South East final, defeating them in front of their home crowd in a second five-set match.

“We just played more consistent than they did, made less errors down the stretch,” said Pellow of an effort putting the Blue Bombers in a position to compete at the end. “And we held it together.”

East Elgin and Parkside had both beaten IDCI during the regular season said the coach, opportunity to ‘right the ship a little’ and take the TVRA crown both appreciated.

The Bombers opened with a 25-13 win over Parkside at WOSSAA AA on Feb. 20 at Stratford St. Mike’s, but eventually fell to a more experienced team 3-1, set scores of 25-13, 25-12, 25-11. Although swept in the bronze medal final (25-18, 28-26, 26-24) by host Stratford St. Mike’s, the scores indicate the closeness of play. London Oakridge took the gold final over Parkside by scores of 25-18, 23-12, 25-13.

“Super proud of how they competed,” Pellow summed up in conclusion. “And that they were able to see some success at the end, given the work they put in.”

TVRA AA Junior Girls Volleyball

The Ingersoll DCI junior Blue Bombers went down swinging against the homecourt Parkside Stampeders in TVRA AA South East semi-final playoff action Feb. 12.

“This was our peak, we worked for this moment,’ said Bomber Willow Kraft. “I think we played great, we just didn’t take it.”

IDCI took a 25-22 decision in the third set, before the Stampeders closed out a 3-1 match victory with a 25-12 win in the fourth. Parkside would go on to take the TVRA South East title with a 25-23, 25-13, 25-21 win over St. Thomas St. Joe’s.

“It didn’t come out how we wanted it to, but we pushed really hard and that’s what matters,” said IDCI’s Avery Phillips.

Regular season losses early in the campaign dropped the Bombers into fourth place said coach Mike Pelton, meaning they opened against the number one Stampeders, rather than a 2-3 matchup which he felt could have led to a WOSSAA AA berth. But Pelton was pleased with a season in which he and co-coach Maggie Carter worked with 14 roster members, striving to find the balance between winning and development.

“I think we found it and you’re going to see the payoff in coming seasons because more kids got better.”

The coaching staff also enjoyed working with athletes displaying a high level of character quality.

“All great players, we were confident in anyone to go on-court and do a job,” Pelton concluded. "You’re going to want to look out for our girls in two years.”