By: Sarah Maat
Scarborough, ON - For the first time since 1989, the Centennial Colts Men's Volleyball team will compete for a provincial medal.
The Centennial Colts defeated the St. Clair Saints in five close sets: 25-23, 24-26, 19-25, 25-21, and 15-12. With this win they will be travelling to Fanshawe College in London where they will play in the semi-finals.
"I'm so proud of these guys," head coach Clayton Couchman said. "We developed a game plan, and sometimes in a high-pressure situation like that, natural instincts can take over a game plan, but the guys didn't let that happen. They stuck to the things that we said were going to do to win us the game and the result is so rewarding."
From the first points, this match looked close. The Colts didn't take a lead until 14 points into the first set, and from that moment on, the play remained a battle as both teams struggled with numerous service errors.
Lionnis Salazar took the court for the second time since returning from a multiple month injury and helped carry the Colts out of tough moments. This season has not been easy for the Cuban native, but the effort he's put into healing up finally paying off.
"I've been doing volleyball for a long time. I've sacrificed so many things to be here and I think we deserve this win," he said. "For me, volleyball is my life. I'm here to do my best." And his best worked.
In the first set Salazar's digs kept Centennial up against St. Clair's short serves. He also launched powerful kills that beat through solid blocks to land on the Saints side. His momentum helped keep the Colts up, even in struggles later in the match.
Salazar had his shining moments in the fourth set when he went on a three-point run with a kill, nasty block, and perfect ace to put the Colts up in a critical set. These contributions helped Centennial recover from two sets down and built the energy they needed to finish the match.
Even with Salazar leading the charge, the second and third sets were Centennial's lowest moments.
"At some point St. Clair clicked again because at first they were making a lot of errors but in the second and third set they started playing a lot cleaner and challenged us," coach Couchman said. "So I came into a timeout and told the guys that we need to hit them with our energy because we went away from that after the first set. When we scored, we weren't celebrating our points, we weren't in their face," coach Couchman said.
Even though they dropped both the second and third sets, the pep talk from coach helped, and the team—aided by rowdy and enthusiastic fans—figured out their rhythm to finish out the game with a win.
Team captain, Pedro Casellatto, recalled a game against the same St. Clair Saints from earlier in the season which also required grit.
"The first time we played St. Clair was at a tournament and we had like seven people and that was the day we showed the most resiliency in the season," he said.
Just like last time, the Colts held on to defeat the Saints. With the win, they've punched their ticket to the semi-finals.
"It's something we have been dreaming about the whole year. Something we have been working towards the whole year," Casellatto said.
"We never thought anything else other than getting here. Now we are just getting what we worked hard for."