WCI junior volleyball girls’ serve up happy WOSSAA A ending

The WOSSAA A junior girls’ volleyball champion Woodstock CI Red Devils feature: (front row, left to right) Gabby Clarke, Hope McMichael, Lily Melanson, Natalie Parsons, M.J. Rabe, Alison VanDerWyngaard, and Avery Molinaro. In the back row, are Hannah Thistlewaite, Brooke Halward, coach Jeff Melanson, coach Colin Maltby, Avery Banbury, Charly Banbury, Makene Barron, Ivy Caskanette and coach Crystal Eberhardt-Gwynne. (Jeff Tribe photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

The Woodstock CI (WCI) Junior Red Devils served up a happier ending in the Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association (WOSSAA) A girls’ volleyball championship.

“A nice little redemption story,” said coach Jeff Melanson following a 3-1 match victory over the London Christian Lynx on Feb. 21 at the WCI DevilDome.

Last year, continued Melanson, the Red Devils had lost to the Lynx, as well as the year previous.

“And we rewrote the story.”

The first set of the final followed the earlier storyline, the Red Devils leading late, but unable to close out the win. The script went from bad to worse early in the second set, WCI trailing 8-5 when Melanson, who typically prefers to let his team play through adversity, called time out.

“At that point, it was just communication,” he said. “We came out silent.”

Technically, his advice was to space out and ‘call their seams.’ But at its heart, Melanson’s messaging focussed on ‘talking’ and enjoying the moment.

“Play loose - keep smiling.”

The script began to flip on a series of jump services courtesy of Red Devils Natalie Parsons and Lily Melanson, momentum building into a 17-13 lead.

“You can’t think it’s going into the net, that you’re going to doubt yourself,” said Parsons of the need to keep pushing through nervousness and the odd error, rewarded when a couple of serves went in. “Then you’re like you’ve got momentum, continue to do it.”

“I think you just have to go all in,” agreed Lily Melanson. “You can’t let it get in your head because volleyball is a very mental game.”

London Christian called time out at 22-18 and got serve back, however, a Charly Banbury kill tipped out and a M.J. Rabe off-speed mishit which confused the Lynx defence, upped the advantage to 24-20. London Christian got service back, however a subsequent serve into the net squared the match at 1-1.

A series of Banbury serves, non-jump, but strategic, broke open the third set, contributing to a Red Devils an early advantage (12-5) they would never relinquish.

“It’s about consistency and placing a serve,” said Banbury, who in the midst of her run, responded to the opposing coach’s warning she was ‘serving short’ to drop one in along the back line. “I was thinking ‘go deep.’”

Woodstock CI took the third set 25-11, capped again by a Rabe ‘knuckleball’ from the left side, a mishit which surprised the Lynx defence and fell for set point.

“Not a plan, but it worked in our favour,” she smiled.

“We’ll take it,” added Lily Melanson.

The fourth and final set was a far-closer affair, WCI trailing 7-2 early before clawing back even at 14 as setter Hope McMichael volleyed a first pass to an open corner. The Red Devils’ ongoing advantage from the service line played out in the set’s break point, a London Christian serve just past the rear boundary giving WCI an 18-17 lead. A strong Parsons serve resulted in a free ball and scoring tip to the back corner, followed by an ace and 20-17 lead. The Lynx closed to 22-20 on a powerful kill, but Rabe responded, picking her spot for a 23-20 advantage.

She followed up at the service line, gaining advantage finished with a McMichael kill through the net. London Christian closed within two points (24-22) on a long WCI kill attempt and ace. Lily Melanson, resisting an understandable tendency to play it safer when the game gets tighter, closed it out with a kill, the Lynx dig attempt bumped into the roof for set and match point.

“Awesome year, definitely what we wanted,” the Grade 10 Rabe summed up, recalling the previous season’s defeat to London Christian, at London Christian.

“This was a big comeback,” Parsons agreed. “Big redemption.”

The Red Devils opened their WOSSAA quest with a three-set sweep of Wingham F.E. Madill that morning at WCI. London Christian defeated Mitchell DHS inside the Woodstock E.S. Notre Dame gym to set up a championship rematch, a chapter closed this season in the Red Devils’ favour.

“We ended how we wanted to,” coach Melanson concluded. ‘Mission accomplished.”