OAKVILLE, Ont. - There were probably more than a few moments when the Sheridan Bruins women's volleyball team (16-17-1, 8-10 OCAA) thought they might let a 2 sets to none lead slip away, but with a playoff birth hanging in the balance, they preserved and defeated Redeemer 3-2 to qualify for the post-season.
"I'm really happy for our girls, they've worked hard all year," head coach Patrick Krychowski said. "The first two sets we did exactly what we wanted to do - we defended the way we wanted to defend them and attacked aggressively [and] we didn't make mistakes. The next two sets it was just completely the opposite. We allowed our own errors to let the other team back in the match and it started it in the third and carried into the fourth. In the fifth set, down 9-2, we had no right to win that but it was extreme determination and will power and frankly the crowd behind was us a fantastic support. It was amazing to hear that crowd."
After winning the first two sets 25-16 and 25-23, the Lady Bruins were close in the third but saw it slowly slip away, falling 25-21.
Perhaps stunned by the missed opportunity to close out the match, they never matched the intensity of their opponents in the fourth set and lost 25-11.
Things didn't get much better in the fifth set as Redeemer jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 9-2, but with a large crowd supporting them the double-blue slowly clawed their way back into the match and then stole the momentum to claim the final frame 15-13.
Melissa Cappelletti had a match-high 17 points (13 kills, two aces, two blocks) while Hannah Hubicki (seven kills, two aces, one block), Eva Crnkovic (one kill, five aces, three blocks), Daneille Simpson (five kills, one block), Alicia Spalding (four kills, one block) and Kaitlin Gagnon (four kills, one ace) rounded out the scoring.
They will now go on the road to face Trent in an OCAA Championship qualifier on February 18.
While Kryshowski has been trying to get his team to play at a more even keel all year, their lack of consistency at times has taught him a lot of other things about the makeup of his squad that he hopes will be useful in their playoff match.
"We've talked about [consistency] all year," he said. "I just don't know where they go sometimes, but they come back and they're just a determined group of girls. They play really, really well under pressure. Sure, they make it tough on themselves sometimes, but they never give up. They never, ever give up."
Blue notes: The match was part of the Sheridan Teams up with SickKids event that raised more than $5,500 dollars for the children's hospital. There were several volleyball alumni as well as current varsity athletes from other sports in attendance to support the cause and their fellow Bruins. With two more aces, Hubicki now sets the school record for most aces in a single season with 46.
Source: Sheridan I.T.