Cambrian ladies heading to OCAA championships

Part of a near sweep of the cross-over games by the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association West Division, the Cambrian Golden Shield women’s volleyball team eliminated the Canadore Panthers 25-18, 25-17, 25-21 Saturday in North Bay.

Despite entering the match as the sixth-place team in the West with a record of 8-10, and facing the third-place Panthers (13-5) from the East, the Cambrian ladies dominated the game from start to finish.

In fact, if not for a five-set win by the Durham Lords over the St Clair Saints, the East would have suffered a shutout on cross-over weekend, as eight teams now advance to the provincial championships beginning Thursday at Redeemer College in Hamilton.

The Golden Shield got there, in part, on the continued development of left-side Hayley Chisholm, with the Sudbury native leading the way with nine kills. Rookies Kelsey Watson (5) and Amanda Kring (4) were also among the offensive leaders, as Cambrian coach Dale Beausoleil maintained a starting lineup that also included setter Stacy Carter, libero Deanna Bedard, and middles Sara Charlton and Kailey Bastien.

Caitlin Hebert topped the Canadore stats parade with eight kills, with Brittany MacComish and Liarra Marchand adding four apiece. With the win, Cambrian now faces the Niagara Knights (15-3) come Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Though the Shield finished well back of the second place team in the OCAA West in regular season play, and were swept aside in three straight sets in a road encounter back in November, these teams did go the maximum five sets just a few weeks ago, on Jan. 31, in Sudbury.

Niagara walked away with a 19-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 15-13 victory, and Cambrian would love nothing more than to turn the tables this time around.