Jacob Hespeler advances to OFSAA
KITCHENER — One way or another, a team from Waterloo Region was going to compete at next month’s Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championship.
The only question — which one would it be — the Jacob Hespeler Hawks or Forest Heights Trojans?
The answer was provided Thursday night in the championship final of the Central Western Ontario triple-A championship and the result was a repeat of Tuesday’s Waterloo County final.
This time, however, it was much closer.
The WCSSAA champion Hawks, who won 3-1 Tuesday, rebounded from a 2-1 to deficit to defeat the Trojans 3-2 (19-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-13, 15-6) in front of a packed house at Forest Heights.
Jacob Hespeler’s Megan Beedie was the difference down the stretch, and the towering player was particularly dominant in the fifth game, both at the net and serving.
“This team is resilient, they have no give-up in them,” said Hawks head coach Steve Domm.
“They came off after that third set and said ‘We’re not losing, it starts now.’ And I told them: ‘That’s right, we’re going five.’’’
Jacob Hespeler’s other key player, Kayla Gallant, ended the match with a kill, but this was by no means a two-player victory. It took a total team effort for the Hawks to win, and players like Dakota Kersting and Makena Abbott rose to the occasion.
The Trojans played the CWOSSA final without big-hitting Des Chantaboury, who had emergency surgery earlier this week and also missed the WCSSAA final.
Libero Morgan Berg was strong in defeat, as well as Grade 10 standouts Megan Tran and Aly Rendle.
Jacob Hespeler and Forest Heights each won three games to reach the final, eliminating the St. Benedict Saints and Huron Heights Huskies in the process. Guelph’s John F. Ross Royals and the St. John’s College Green Eagles also came up short at the one-day tournament.
The OFSAA triple-A championship is March 6-8 in Barrie.
The Resurrection Phoenix scored a 3-2 (25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 19-25, 15-12) victory over Forest Heights to win the CWOSSA junior championship. Chloe Bugdale recorded the match-winning kill after Forest Heights had made the final set interesting by running off four consecutive points.
Resurrection reached the final with a 2-1 (25-12, 23-25, 15-9) win over the Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders, and Forest Heights got there beating the Cameron Heights Golden Gaels 2-0 (25-20, 25-20). The St. James Lions of Guelph defeated St. David 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 26-24) to win the CWOSSA senior double-A championship. St. James advances to the March 6-8 OFSAA double-A championship in Belleville.
The Valley Heights VoyageurBears of Langton advanced to the OFSAA single-A championship with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-6) win over the Woodland Cavaliers at the CWOSSA event in Breslau.
The Père-René-de-Galinée Chevaliers won the CWOSSA junior single-A championship with a 2-0 (25-12, 25-18) win over the Delhi Raiders.