St. Mary’s Warriors junior boys win WOSSAA AA silver

The Woodstock St. Mary’s junior Warriors, winners of the TVRA AA junior boys’ volleyball championship and WOSSAA AA silver medals. (Jeff Tribe Photo).

Jeff Tribe

Woodstock St. Mary’s Warriors junior boys volleyball coach Denys Reid understands the theory a team doesn’t win silver, it loses the gold.

But after his squad raised its level of play throughout the post-season, earning its way into the Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association AA championship on the strength of Thames Valley Regional Athletic (TVRA) Southeast tournament final wins over Ingersoll DCI and the previously undefeated St. Thomas St. Joe’s Rams, the coach wasn’t buying it.

“At the end of the day you earned that silver,” Reid said. “Coming second in all of WOSSAA is an accomplishment.”

St. Mary’s punched its WOSSAA AA ticket with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-14 TVRA Southeast semi-final win over the host Ingersoll DCI Blue Bombers on Nov. 6.

“One of the best games we’ve played,” said Warriors power Caleb Allard following the match. Although not a happy early riser, he said St. Mary’s showed what it had despite the 9 a.m. start. “Got our serves in, got our hits in and played our best.”

Ingersoll had come out strong in the first set said Reid, but the Warriors were able to match their energy and played flawlessly.

“Stepped up and played our best game of the year… so far,” he said at the time.

The junior Blue Bombers were looking to take coach Sharon Docherty to WOSSAA in her final season, the result not at all what they were hoping for said middle blocker Reid Oton.

“Mostly the momentum and then we got quiet, and when we get quiet, we don’t play as well.”

Coach Docherty’s closing message had however focussed on how players she had coached had gone on to be good people, husbands and fathers, said Oton.

“She said no amount of medals could give her that joy.”

St. Mary’s semi-final win both advanced the Warriors into the final and earned a WOSSAA AA berth. Rather than settling however, St. Mary’s handed the Rams their first TVRA Southeast loss of the season by a 25-23, 17-25, 25-17, 25-22 margin.

In both matches said coach Reid, St. Mary’s’ defence, blocks at the net and digs, encouraged its overall game to flourish with the offence catching up.

“When we had openings to get points, we put the ball down on the ground.”

The Warriors used the same unofficial gameplan at WOSSAA, dropping its first set to St. Joe’s 22-25 before rallying to win in three straight, 25-18, 25-21, 25-11.

“They boys really dug down deep,” Reid said.

Defensively, St. Mary’s picked up its game, “offensively we were putting the balls away.”

Reid also credited his non-starters for being a positive force, supporting those on-court while being prepared to step up and compete when called into the rotation.

“They were like a seventh man.”

The Warriors faced Oakridge in the WOSSAA AA final, dropping a 25-12, 26-24, 25-17 decision to a strong squad featuring an overpowering individual. Oakridge found a way to get him the ball, whether he was in the front or back row, which was a significant factor in the result.

“There was no quit in our guys,” Reid summed up, “Oakridge just overpowered us.”

In conclusion, he was happy to see WOSSAA AA silver medals hung around the necks of his players - medals they had won through their best volleyball of the season.

“I was so, so proud.”

SENIOR WOSSAA AA

The St. Mary’s seniors also earned WOSSAA silver medals, and like their junior counterparts, entered the draw on the high of a TVRA Southeast title.

The Warriors opened TVRA play Wednesday, November 6th at Ingersoll DCI with a three-game sweep of St. Thomas St. Joe’s Rams, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22. 

That victory earned St. Mary’s a WOSSAA berth, they would add the TVRA Southeast championship with a three-set sweep of the homecourt Blue Bombers in the final.

The Warriors maintained momentum through the first match of the WOSSAA AA draw, going back-to-back against Ingersoll DCI by scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-19. St. Mary’s advanced to a tightly contested AA final, opening with a 26-24 win over London Montcalm, before dropping the next three sets by margins of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-22.

With the victory, Montcalm advanced to the OFSAA AA tournament from Nov. 21st to 23 in St. Catharines.

The Ingersoll DCI Blue Bombers rebounded from their semi-final setback to down Stratford St. Mike’s in the bronze final. IDCI dropped the first set 25-18 before reeling off three consecutive victories by comfortable margins of 25-10, 25-12 and 25-19.

“Not what we wanted, but we earned what we got,” summed up Blue Bomber coach Chris Adkins.

IDCI opened the bronze final nervous Adkins said, making errors that detracted from its aggressiveness. The momentum turned on a great defensive dig, the Bombers seeming to feed on that one play, getting out of their early funk, finding the joy in volleyball and rolling from there.

Beyond WOSSAA, Adkins congratulated Zach Brouwer for his invitation to the TVRA All-Star game at London St. Thomas Aquinas.

“It was a good season,” the coach summed up, if not without injuries that led to four different lineup changes. As late as quarterfinals, the Blue Bombers lineup was not set, which while providing a short-term challenge, bodes well for the future.

“Everyone got lots of meaningful court time,” Adkins concluded.

IDCI qualified for WOSSAA with a TVRA Southeast semi-final win over the Woodstock Huron Park Huskies, 25-21, 25-16, 25-19.

“That was the goal,” said Ingersoll’s Nathan Law at the time. “We want to win the next one, but this is the big game.”

“We still have some work to do,” said Huskies coach Eryn Orr, who was nevertheless extremely pleased with the progress her promising young team made through the 2024 season.

“A lot of development, a lot of improvement.”

That experience will stand Huron Park in good stead next year, believes Huskie Parker McLeod.

“I think we’re going to have a good season.”