KISH killing
Senior High School girls volleyball teams bring home titles.
It was a banner weekend for the Kensington Intermediate Senior High School (KISH) volleyball program.
The KISH senior girls went undefeated in capturing the annual Colonel Gray Wall of Fame Cup tournament in Charlottetown, and the Kensington intermediate girls returned home as champions of a tournament in Bible Hill, N.S.
Seniors
At the Wall of Fame Cup, the Torchettes finished with an overall undefeated record of 5-0 (won-lost).
“The team played very well for the entire tournament,” said Richard Younker, head coach of the Torchettes. “It really was a team effort, everyone got to play and played well.”
The Torchettes opened tournament play with a 2-0 win over the host Colonel Gray Colonels in what was also a P.E.I. School Athletic Association Senior AAA Girls Volleyball League match.
Scores were 25-18, 25-19, and the Torchettes’ Cassandra MacLeod was named the player of the match.
A hard-fought 2-1 (14-25, 2519, 15-8) win over Charlottetown Rural improved KISH’s record to 2-0. Kensington’s Emily MacDonald was the player of the match. Jillian Ferguson, who was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player, earned player-of-the-match honours in the Torchettes’ 2-0 win over Sydney Academy in their final round-robin game. Scores were 25-12, 25-18.
The Torchettes then defeated the Bluefield Bobcats 2-0 (25-15, 25-15) in a semifinal match, before outlasting the Raiders in a hard-fought final that went the distance – three sets. “Charlottetown Rural is a very good team, and in order to defeat them twice in the same tournament showed how well we played,” said Younker.
“The girls dropped the first set (20-25), and then trailed for quite a bit of the second set, eventually winning 25-23. This led to a back-and-forth third set, eventually winning 15-0. It was a great weekend overall.” KISH’s Hillary MacLean, who was named a tournament allstar, and Maddy Rogers were recognized as the players of the match in the semifinal and final.
Intermediates
The KISH intermediate team overcame an openingmatch loss en route to winning gold.
The Torchettes lost to Ecole Sommet 2-0, before posting 2-1 wins over Bible Hill and South Colchester to finish pool play in second place. Kensington then defeated M.E. Callaghan 2-1 in a semifinal match, setting the stage for another three-set thriller against Truro Junior High in the final.
The Torchettes won the first set, lost the second and bounced back to take the third. KISH Grade 9 player and senior captain Megan MacDonald was named the tournament most valuable player.
“The girls had a phenomenal weekend,” assessed Torchettes coach Brianna MacKay. “We are a very young team, with only two Grade 9s, six Grade 8s and four Grade 7s, so we did not have high expectations going into the tournament, especially as a small Island school team. “Serving and serve receive were two strong components to our success. Each one of our girls contributed to earning our gold medal.”