Colonels deliver in the clutch
Murphy leads Gray boys to five-set win over Bluefield for senior AAA gold medal
Jonah Murphy authored a storybook ending to his high school volleyball career.
The Grade 12 power, playing his last match as a member of the Colonel Gray Colonels, held the team’s fate in his hands in the P.E.I. School Athletic Association (PEISAA) Senior AAA Boys Volleyball League championship match on Nov. 12.
After the Colonels staved off one of two match points in the fifth and deciding set, Murphy went back to serve facing another with the Bluefield Bobcats leading 14-13.
The Colonels would go on to score the next three points with Murphy serving and pull out a thrilling 16-14 win in the fifth and deciding set to repeat as provincial champions.
“It was a pretty exciting moment for it all to be depended on me,” Murphy told the Saltwire Network in a post-game interview. “I was nervous but excited at the same time.”
The Colonels won the first two sets 25-16, 25-15, but the Bobcats refused to go away quietly and rallied to win the next two sets 25-19, 25-20. The thrilling fifth set had fans of both teams cheering loudly and coming out of their seats on each point in a packed Charlottetown Rural High School gymnasium.
“That was one of the best finals I have seen in a while, to be quite honest,” said Colonels head coach Max Arsenault. “Bluefield played a heck of a game, they were aggressive hitting, we won the first two (sets) and they caught us off balance.
“We had to fight back, it was toe-to-toe until the end, and it was one of the most entertaining, exciting matches I have ever seen.”
Nathan Whitnell (Gray) and Riley Mckinnon (Bluefield) were named the players of the match for the final.
Murphy, the provincial championship’s most valuable player, said the Colonels were a bit worried after losing the fourth set, adding the Bobcats held the momentum going into the fifth set.
“We managed to stick it out to the end and fight our hearts out,” added Murphy, who described the final as the most intense and exciting match he has ever played.
Asked about Murphy’s
clutch performances with the match on the line, Arsenault said he couldn’t be prouder of how the 17-year-old from Charlottetown handled the situation.
“Sometimes it’s a good thing to have your best player serving, but also sometimes you want him at the net hitting,” said Arsenault. “This is his team, and there’s no better person to be in that situation for us.
“We were extremely happy to have him there. He knew this was a moment that would define him, and he took on the challenge.”
Asked about any adjustments made in the back-andforth fifth set, Arsenault said the Colonels talked about being more aggressive at hitting the ball during a late timeout.
“We were passively putting the ball over and not playing our match of hitting hard-driven balls …,” said Arsenault. “We talked about just crushing the ball.”
The victory marked the third straight PEISAA senior AAA title for the Colonels. Murphy has been a part of all three championship teams and won provincial intermediate titles with Queen Charlotte in Grades 8 and 9.
“This one was a lot more exciting than last year,” said Arsenault. “I believe last year we beat (Three Oaks) in three sets if I’m not mistaken.
“In Grade 10, I was on the bench and didn’t participate. This one means a lot more.”