Chill U17 girls earn silver in North Bay

The pieces are starting to come together nicely for the Northern Chill U17 girls.

Competing in their second Ontario Volleyball Association tournament of the year, the U17 Chill advanced to the finals of the Challenge Cup in North Bay last month, battling through three exciting sets before earning silver, edged out of gold.

The locals swept past the NBYVC U16 Lakers (North Bay) in straight sets (25-20, 25-17) in their opener, but dropped to second in their pool after a three-set loss to the Georgian Cubs (17-25, 25-15, 12-15). The loss appeared to spark the Sudbury girls, who absolutely dominated their quarter-final encounter, outscoring the Barrie Elites U16 Blue 25-9, 25-12.

Challenged a little more in the semis, the Chill responded by taking down the Orillia Suns 19-25, 25-21, 15-6. Looking to step out of Trillium competition with a tournament win, the locals fell just short in the championship affair, defeated 26-24, 22-25, 13-15 by the Barrie U17 Elites.

A quick canvas of the players identified an attention to tough serving, excellent serve receive, a “never say die” attitude, as well as outstanding internal support as being key to their success in a tournament which saw girls playing out of position to cover for injuries.

The team resumes OVA action on Jan. 18, taking part in McGregor Cup competition. The U17 Chill roster for 2013-2014 features Alana Dugdale, Megan LaBrash, Natalee Parisotto, Kaitlyn Gillis-McAnulty, Kayla Wandziak, Hanna Bird, Shayna Graham, Kathryn Webb, Julia Lamarche, Amanda Rigg and Hannah Malinski, as well coaches Craig Thomson and Amy Cliff.