Bulldogs get spiked by Burlington team
General Amherst struggles to contain Longhorns’ 6-foot outside hitter
Everything was going according to plan for the General Amherst Bulldogs until the No. 1-ranked Burlington Corpus Christi Longhorns showed up.
The No. 6-ranked Bulldogs won their first two matches on Monday at the OFSAA girls’ AA volleyball championship, but hopes of a firstplace finish in pool play came to an end against the Longhorns at the SportsPlex.
“We’ve never played them before,” Bulldogs outside hitter Emery Lucier said. “I knew it was going to be difficult to beat them, but I thought we could. I think we still can, I just don’t think we played to the best of our ability and together.”
General Amherst fell 2-0 to Corpus Christi by scores of 25-18 and 25-18 with much of the Bulldogs’ problem handling six-foot Longhorns outside hitter Biamba Kabengele.
Kabengele is headed to Michigan State University on a scholarship and is the niece of former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo. “Going into the game we knew about (Kabengele) and talked about her, and I think everyone was a bit nervous, and the first set we were playing like we were going to lose already,” Bulldogs’ outside hitter Brynlee Ammonite said. Corpus Christi jumped to a 19-8 lead before the Bulldogs rallied to make it a three-point game behind Ammonite’s serve, but General Amherst could get no closer. “It was rough for us,” Ammonite said. “We weren’t communicating on the court. We weren’t a team. We’ve never had a player hit at us that hard.” The Bulldogs stayed tighter in the second match with the two teams tied at 15-15 before the Longhorns pulled away. “They’re really good, I recognize that, and they deserved to win. They wanted it more than us, but I think we could have played better,” Lucier said.
But General Amherst is still in position to make the quarter-finals. The club is 2-1 after beating No. 16 Fort Frances 2-0 by scores of 25-5 and 25-17 and then defeating No. 11 London Mother Teresa, 2518 and 25-19.
“That was our goal coming into (Monday), to be 2-1,” General Amherst head coach Jeff Miller said. “At the end of the day, the main thing was to try to advance to championship quarters. First or second, everyone’s in the same boat. For us, the big thing was the first two games.”
A win over No. 20 Cite des Jeunes from Kapuskasing in the club’s final game in pool play on Tuesday will assure the team of a quarter-final spot.
It was a much tougher start on Monday for the Essex Red Raiders, who earned the second SWOSSAA entry to the tournament. Essex, which is the No. 15 seed, dropped both of its pool matches on Monday.
The Red Raiders fell 2-0 to No. 5 Fonthill E.L. Crossley by scores of 25-18 and 25-8. The team also faced No. 2 North Bay Widdiefield and lost 2-0 by scores of 25-20 and 25-14.
Essex closes pool play on Tuesday against No. 18 Toronto Bishop Marocco/Thomas Merton and No. 12 Thornhill Thornlea with the club likely needing to win both matches and get help to advance to quarter-final play.
They’re really good ... and they deserved to win. They wanted it more than us, but I think we could have played better.