Cambrian ladies ready for second-half run

The Cambrian Golden Shield women's volleyball team kicked off what should be an intense six-week stretch, returning from a Christmas break training session and facing top-level competition at the Adidas Cup.

The traditional second-half tournament would see Cambrian defeated in the B Flight Final, upended by the Georgian Grizzlies in four sets as Bois-de-Boulogne (Montreal) became the first Quebec-based team to capture the event in the 25-year history of the tournament.

Finalists one year ago, the Golden Shield emerged out of preliminary-round play with a record of 4-2, placing second in Pool B. The local ladies fell to Bois-de-Boulogne (14-25, 20-25), but bounced back to overcome both the St Clair Saints (25-11, 25-10) and the Loyalist Lancers (25-16, 25-17).

Moving on to the championship quarter-finals, Cambrian was bounced by the powerful Humber Hawks in straight sets (10-25, 16-25), relegated to the B Flight semifinals.

Coach Dale Beausoleil and company proceeded to take out the host team, sweeping the Durham Lords (25-22, 25-20, 25-21) before succumbing to the Barrie-based Grizzlies by scores of 25-16, 22-25, 23-25 and 23-25.

Mere weeks after establishing a new OCAA career mark for kills, Shawna Metcalf was named to the tournament first all-star team, the only Cambrian athlete to crack the selected top 10.

In the end, Bois-de-Boulogne defeated Humber in four sets (25-18, 25-22, 15-25, 26-24) in the A Flight final, with Loyalist securing the C Division while Algonquin grabbed the honours in the D grouping.

The tournament, which attracted a total of 16 teams, featured four teams that posted flawless records of 6-0 in pool play, a list that included Humber, Bois-de-Boulogne, as well as Lionel-Groulx (Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec) and Grande Prairie (Alberta).

At the midway point of the schedule, Cambrian sits in third place with a record of 8-2, just back of both Durham (10-1) and Trent (9-1) and just ahead of Georgian (7-3).

Though the Golden Shield managed to beat Trent at home in mid-November, losses to both Durham and Algonquin left the local ladies looking up at the top two as the holidays neared.

The team will face the Seneca Sting Jan. 12 in Toronto, looking for a little retribution the following weekend with both the Algonquin Thunder and La Cité Coyotes in town.