The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

42 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 7, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Gold for atom Vytis STA volleyball win meaningless, meaningful The Oakville Vytis major atom boys' basketball team added to its medal collection last weekend, earning gold at a tournament in Brantford. The Vytis, which won silver at an OBA competition in Burlington last month, posted five straight wins in Brantford, including a 52-36 rout of Brantford CYO in the championship game. Oakville also defeated Blessed Sacrament 60-28, Lithuanian Athletic Club 50-30, St. Catharine's CYO 56-28 and Core City (Windsor) 50-43. Vytis' Matthew Thompson was the tournament's most valuable player. Also contributing to the gold-medal effort were Oliver Dooley, Christopher Lam, Jesse Flores, Jake Babic, Owen Coulthard, Kristjian Petrovic, Jahvari Bennett, Perry Billard, Dennis Xu, Garrett Atkinson and Ethan Anderson. The Halton high school division standings are often as important as who Peyton Manning's backup is. They just don't matter. While geography determines a team's division, school size determines who will battle for a Halton championship. On the surface, a pair of 7-1 teams meeting in the secondlast game of the regular season should have been a great matchup to determine first place. However, with the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders and the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils going their separate ways in the senior girls' volleyball playoffs and no prize on the line for finishing first in the East Division, the teams' contest Monday at OT essentially boiled down to a preplayoff exhibition game. You would have never known it, though, from watching the teams slug it out on the court. And you certainly wouldn't have known it from the reaction of Aquinas captain Aysia Saint after her team's 14-25, 25-23, 15-13 victory over the defending AAAA champions. "(OT) has been our arch rivals for years so this win is more satisfying than any other," the Grade 12 student said. "This is my third year of senior and we've always been so close but we've never been able to beat them." You wouldn't have known either by the reaction of OT coach Maria Seto, whose only post-game offering was, "I really don't feel like talking about it right now." In the end, the victory may well end up helping the Raiders, who are now the only AA school with one loss. That means Aquinas can guarantee home court advantage through to the final with a win in its final regular season game today. "If we play at home, we'll have our fans and we feel comfortable there," Saint said. The Raiders certainly didn't look comfortable in the opening game playing in OT's gym. Led by veteran D.D. Dionisio -- who nailed precision strikes into back corners -- OT took nine of the last 11 points to take the opening game. Saint, unhappy with her own play in the opener, took the advice of her coaches to put that game behind her. Though OT took an 11-8 lead, Aquinas continued to battle with Saint attacking from the back row and Tessa Medlock providing strong hits up front. Though Aquinas has improved its offensive game this season, the defence is still the team's anchor. "(OT) is a very strong team offensively. They're always very persistent, but it's our defence that pulls us through," said Saint. As the Raiders began to adjust, they worked their way back to tie the game at 11. OT and Aquinas traded points back and forth all the way to 17, when the Raiders finally ran off four straight to gain some breathing room. OT didn't surrender, coming back to tie the game at 23 by winning a pair of long rallies. Aquinas wouldn't let this one slip away, however, taking the next two points to square the match. The deciding game provided the best volleyball as the teams truly showed that bragging rights were enough to give their best effort. Neither team strung together more than two consecutive points in the entire game, which featured nine lead changes. With the game tied at 13, Saint delivered a clutch kill to give Aquinas the lead and the Raiders put the match away by taking the next point. There were some outstanding performances on OT's side as well. In addition to Dionisio, Jennifer Pierce, one of four junior-aged players who sees regular court time for the rebuilding Devils, flung her body around the court to keep balls alive and sustain some outstanding rallies between the teams. With the deciding game tied at 13, Pierce dove headlong into the referee's stand trying to keep a ball in play. Try telling her the game didn't mean anything. LOOK FOR Canada's Perfect Valentine's Superstore Sweet eal DFlyers! in Today's Paper! * delivered to select homes To advertise in this section Call Kay @ ELECTRICAL WINDOWS PAINTING & WALLPAPERING FLOORING COVERINGS Model Electrical Inc LICENSED ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR Royal y (905) SERVING OAKVILLE SINCE 1963 WOOD N' FLOOR We Install all Kinds of Floors "Refinish Your Wood Floor Like New" 905-845-3824 ext. 278 HOME IMPROVEMENT RESIDENTIAL Service Upgrades Panel Changes Pot Lights, and more INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL DECORATING LTD. COMPLETE PAINTING & WALLPAPERING SERVICE · RESIDENTIAL SPECIALIST · INTERIOR & EXTERIOR · CUSTOM COLOUR MIXING · RESTORATIONS · PLASTER REPAIRS & TEXTURING QUALITY WORKMANSHIP BY QUALIFIED TRADESMEN DECORATING & COLOUR CONSULTANTS Quality Craftsmaship and Competitive Prices. W Call Eddie: (905) 845-2065 ECRA/ESA LICENSE# 7001664 827-5584 ALVIN T. JONES PAINTING KAZ (905)338-1881 Cell (905) 334-2270 PAINTING BASEMENT LEAKS/CONSTRUCTION POT LIGHT PROS · New or existing ceilings · Professional installation · No mess · Reliable service 15 years in Oakville INTER-CAN PAINTING INC. Painter & Decorator · Interior/Exterior · Plaster Repair r · Wallpapering/Stripping · Stucco · Quality Work/Great Service For Free Estimates call · Free Estimate (905) 334-2120 · Residential & Commercial Painting · Hubert Klein (905) 469-0092 ( ) 7 dr. José Ramirez · Walkouts · Handicap Ramps · Basement Windows · Concrete Patios & Walkways · Post & Beam Installation · Brick Repair · Retaining Walls Tel: 905-827-0494 www.drconstruction.ca 20-YEAR GUARANTEE Waterproofing Foundation Repairs Walkouts WATERPROOFING 416-820-1711 · Interior/Exterior · Faux Finishes · · Staining · Plaster Repairs · · Caulking, and more · 1260 Speers Rd/. Unit 5, Oakville leakybasements.ca (905) 484-6242