The Churchill Trojans bid for a top-eight provincial showing will fall short.
Now the host team at the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Associations senior boys’ AA volleyball championships is focusing on having a strong consolation showing.
The Trojans dropped their final match of the group play stage, falling to the Franco Cité Falcons of Ottawa in straight sets (19-25, 13-25) at the St. Patrick high school gym on Friday afternoon.
Churchill finishes the group stage of the event with a 2-2 mark after splitting their matches for the second straight day. Tiebreakers place the Trojans fourth in their pool.
That result will send the Trojans off to the consolation side, where they will take on Guelph’s Our Lady of Lourdes in the quarterfinal.
Churchill head coach Scott Masters said his team ran out of gas after a busy two-day stretch.
“We’re not used to playing this much intense volleyball,” Masters admitted.
“Our kids came out and play well and Franco Cité was a very good team, but our kids just kind of lost that energy and we need to get back for the quarterfinals.”
Trojans middle Tristan Webb said his squad is having to go through a learning curve to keep up with what the opposing teams’ strategies.
The Grade 12 student said these provincial calibre teams are capable of playing at a level that
the Trojans are not regularly exposed to.
“It’s a very different kind of game. It’s crazy to see these right sides and middles, things we don’t normally see inside the city. Their setters can do things we’ve never seen before,” Webb said.
“To adjust to this is unbelievable. I’m so surprised my team has been able to come together and adjust to such a contrasting playing style.”
The Trojans started off Friday with a nail-biting victory (27-25, 25-23) over St. Michael CHS Mustangs of Kemptville.
That win follows a trend the host team has established by finding a way to eke out victories from tight situations.
Masters said his team’s ability to pull out close sets was an encouraging sign from the two days of action.
“We won four sets by two points. That’s huge. That’s like winning two overtime games in hockey so I was happy with how we did.”
Meanwhile, the Dryden Eagles quest for a provincial championship remains intact.
The other northwestern Ontario team in the draw wrapped up their group stage with a 4-0 record for the top spot in Group B.
The Eagles swept through Samuel-Genest (25-16, 25-21) and CW Jeffreys (25-6, 25-15) to set up a championship quarterfinal against Cobourg.
The seven-time defending champion Eden also maintained a perfect 4-0 through group play. The St. Catharines school has yet to drop a set.
