Blaze U14 Girls Golden at Provincial Cup

By: Lindsay Franco

London, Ont. – The U14 Girls Burlington Blaze black team traveled to London to compete in their first sanctioned OVA tournament of the year. The Blaze earned a gold medal at the Provincial Cup to start off the year right. 

 

First up for the Blaze early in the day was the Guelph Gryphons Black team. In the first set, Amanda Rivera would serve 16 in a row to easily take down the Gryphons in the first set 25-6. In the second set, the Gryphons attempted to mount a comeback to force the third set, but the Blaze wouldn’t have it as they sailed to their first win of the day 25-17. Alyssa Glen would record five kills in the match.

 

Next up in round robin play was the London Sharks. Strong play from the Sharks earned them the first-set win by just two points, 25-23, due to some strong serving. This would be the only set the Blaze would lose all day though, as they came back to win the second and third sets with scores of 25-10 and 15-3. Dray Campagna’s statistics were a standout this set with three aces and four kills.

 

In the last game of pool play, the Blaze took on the Brant Tornadoes Orange team. The team was no challenge for Burlington as Natasha Lewis came up big for the Blaze on the service line and Taylor Vallee was strong at the net with some big kills. Set scores were 25-10, 25-7 in favour of the Blaze. 

 

The Blaze took on a fellow Burlington team in the quarter-finals. It was the Red versus the Black, but the Black would prevail 25-11, 25-8. Made up of mostly U13’s, the Red team returned some tough serves from Habiba El Mohandes, but it wouldn’t be enough to take over the older, more experienced Burlington Blaze Black squad. Breanna Jager recorded two kills from the right side.

 

In the semifinals, the Blaze were once again matched up with the London Sharks. Burlington didn’t even allow the Sharks to see double digits in either set though, as the Blaze steamrolled to the finals with scores of 25-8 and 25-6. Nicki Komac served 11 in a row for Burlington and Marne Nicholson was perfect on service and key in the back row. 

 

The finals saw the Blaze take on the Brant Tornadoes Blue team. Monica Werykowicz recorded an outstanding nine kills, a team-high for the day, and strong setting from Bella Oliveira was key in Burlington’s gold medal match win. The Blaze would easily defeat the Tornadoes 25-10, 25-4. 

 

With their tremendous success this weekend, the Blaze will move up to the West Championship Division to take on some of the best U14 Girls teams in the province. Burlington will play in the Challenge Cup on December 17.