THUNDER BAY – Adam Van Elburg says he came into the 2018 senior boys’ volleyball season with no expectations.
Landing with the Westgate Tigers after the closure of Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute, where the Trojans ended their run with three straight Superior Secondary Schools Athletic Association championships, the 17-year-old simply hoped to contribut winning ways to his new program.
Along with four other members of the Trojans program and eight athletes from the Westgate program, Van Elburg on Monday night became a champion again.
The Tigers, brushing off a slow start, swept the St. Ignatius Falcons in three sets, winning 25-19, 25-16 and 25-17 to capture the first senior boys’ title in nine years, the fifth in school history.
“Coming from a winning season at Churchill, I was hoping I could do well this year as well. To be able to come out with the win again, it feels awesome,” Van Elburg said.
“I think we were able to come together as a team and play well. We haven’t had much trouble with this team in the past and we were able to keep that going to secure another win.”
The Tigers were heavy favourites heading into the match, needing a single win to secure the championship, the opposition Falcons needed back-to-back wins to hoist the trophy for the first time in four years.
Westgate, who will head to Kenora on Friday and Saturday to Beaver Brae in the NWOSSAA championship, rolled through the regular season with a 12-0 record, dropping just two sets along the way, one to St. Patrick, the other to Superior Collegiate.
Cody Beals, a Grade 12 student who came up through the Tigers system, said it was a fantastic win for the south-side school after nearly a decade of not taking home the trophy.
“We had a great year last year, came up short of the championship. Churchill won it, but it’s a great time now that they’re all here and it’s a big win, for sure.”
Beals said they were able to shake off a shaky beginning to the match, played at Lakehead University’s C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
“We didn’t have the greatest start in the world that we really wanted, but we got it done. We played as a team, did everything we needed to do and in the end got that championship,” the Grade 12 student said.
Tigers coach Curtis Michaluk said he knew they had a chance to do something special, amalgamating the two programs together at the start of the school year.
“We had a great mix of kids from both Churchill and Westgate and it was obvious to see how well they came together tonight to go undefeated all year and to win all four tournaments we entered. You couldn’t ask for anything more,” Michaluk said.
Getting that title for the Tigers was a great feeling, he added.
“It’s been a while, so it feels great.”
