Girls V-ball all-stars shine
Montana Taylor and Kate Lafleur made the most of the opportunity when Niagara College put girls high school volleyball in the spotlight.
The setters, among 24 student athletes from 12 schools in the region taking part in Tuesday night’s all-star game in Welland, were selected most valuable players for their respective teams.
Taylor lead a team coached by Niagara Knights player Natasha Desjardins with 11 points on eight kills, two aces and a block in a 4-0 sweep of a team coached by Tamara Edwards, also a member of the defending Ontario silver medallist Knights.
Lafleur recorded a game-high 13 assists. She also had three kills, four digs and an ace in the closely contested match. Set scores were 25-23, 25-19, 25-21 and 25-20.
Nathan Janzen, head coach of the women’s volleyball team at the college, said the future for the sport in the region looks bright.
“Tonight we really got to see how talented Niagara’s high school volleyball players are,” he said. “The game was competitive and entertaining from start to finish.
“But more importantly, tonight serves as a celebration of all of the hard work these studentathletes have given their sport this season.”
Selecting players of the game from the respective sides was anything but easy.
“The whole group played great tonight,” Janzen said. “It’s so nice to see players showcasing a variety of skills in a game like this, and Kate and Montana really competed well.”
One of last year’s MVPs, Sadie Dick, again was a force to be reckoned with. The Governor Simcoe outside hitter, who has seen action with Team Canada as well as Team Ontario, led all players with 14 points on eight kills, four aces and two blocks in the win.
Jenna Pollock, Sir Winston Churchill, eight kills; Kaelyn Emslie, eight kills; Kate Fenwick, Simcoe, seven points; Gabrielle Lemay, Jean Vanier, six kills; and Emily White, Denis Morris, six kills; also were standouts on Team Desjardins.
Top contributors for Team Edwards included Kathleen Longley, A.N. Myer, five kills, two aces, two blocks; Anna Di Bacco, Eden, eight digs; and Alexa Villeneuve, seven digs.
Both coaching staffs were made up of Niagara College who
competed in the showcase when they were in high school.
Desjardins, a Vanier graduate, was joined on the sidelines by Denis Morris alumn Nicole Chiesa. Assisting Edwards, who played at Eden before continuing her career with the Knights, was Thorold grad Nicole Pirillo.
The college began hosting high school showcase in June 2014 when Frank DeChellis, then coach of both the Knights men’s and women’s soccer programs, spearheaded the concept.
Basketball and volleyball have since been added to the lineup bringing the number of showcases to six.
As well as showcasing high school sports, and showcasing the college’s athletic facilities to potential students, the events give students in the college’s broadcasting, television and film program hands-on experience broadcasting the games.