CEC boys claim Wolverine Classic

After close victory over Three Oaks Axemen in final

The Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars from Truro, N.S., pulled out a razor-thin victory over the Three Oaks Axemen to capture the boys’ championship of the 35th annual Westisle Wolverines Volleyball Classic on Saturday evening.

The Axemen rallied from a 12-8 deficit to tie the deciding set 1212, but after five consecutive sideouts the Cougars finally served up a 16-14 victory.

The Cougars won the final’s opening set 25-20, but Summerside-based Three Oaks rallied from a 21-17 deficit to win 25-22 to force the winner-take-all set. “That close,” Axemen coach Dale MacDougall commented during the medal presentations, motioning with the tips of his thumb and forefinger almost touching.

“We were just a few points away from beating these guys,” MacDougall reflected afterwards. While acknowledging the Axemen did a good job of putting up blocks against the Cougars’ hard hitters in the championship match, he said the well-coached Nova Scotia squad is a smart team and had success tipping the ball up over the block.

Players of the match

The Cougars’ Adam McEachern and the Axemen’s Ben MacDougall were named the final’s players of the match.

“I had been struggling a little bit throughout the rest of the tournament,” said McEachern, who’s in

his final year. “It felt good to come out and play a really good game; I thought the whole team played well.”

Commenting on an observation that the Cougars played with enthusiasm, McEachern remarked,

“We’re a school that likes to play with a little energy; it brings up the spirit of the game, and it only adds to the competitiveness of both teams.”

Three Oaks had only two losses in the two-day tournament,

both to Cobequid.

In the quarter-finals, Cobequid defeated Colonel Gray 25-15, 2514; Bluefield topped Charlottetown Rural 25-18, 25-14; Three Oaks won 25-18, 25-18 over host Westisle, and West Kings got by

Dartmouth 20-25, 25-20, 15-10. Cobequid got by West Kings 25-14, 25-11 in one semifinal, and Three Oaks defeated Bluefield 2510, 25-18 in the other.

ERIC MCCARTHY/JOURNAL PIONEER The Three Oaks Axemen’s Jack Somers hits the ball over the block attempt of Cobequid’s Adam McEachern during the boys’ championship match of the 35th annual Westisle Wolverine Volleyball Classic at the Westisle gymnasium on Saturday evening. Tyler MacDonald, 5, of the Axemen follows the play.

ERIC MCCARTHY/JOURNAL PIONEER Tournament all-star Thomas Vickers of the Cobequid Education Centre Cougars soars high to smash the ball during the boys’ championship match of the 35th annual Westisle Wolverine Volleyball Classic against the Three Oaks Axemen on Saturday evening. The Cougars prevailed two sets to one.