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34 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007 Jump Hawks, Raiders earn OFSAA volleyball berths By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR With spots in Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) tournaments on the line, Hamilton representatives were no match for local senior girls' volleyball squads Tuesday. Both the Loyola Hawks and St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders easily advanced to their respective provincial championships with straight-set victories in Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference qualifying matches. Loyola swept three games from Bishop Ryan, which went undefeated in its league this season, while Aquinas received little resistance from Bishop Tonnis. The Hawks will compete at the provincial AAA tournament in Midland, while Aquinas will travel to Kingston for the AA championships. Both tournaments will be held March 6-7. Loyola "business-like" in GHAC win Loyola coach Toni Babic, whose team posted victories of 25-17, 25-13 and 25-17, said her squad brought a relaxed and professional demeanour to the court in its GHAC contest. "They definitely came out strong and disciplined. They knew they had a job to do, they were very business-like and they never got very emotional about it," said Babic. "Obviously, having the lead helps them play that way, but even when they did lose a few points here and there it didn't frazzle them at all. They always had control." Still, Babic said that Bishop Ryan provided the stiffest opposition for the Hawks in league play this year. Loyola easily disposed of the Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers and Assumption Crusaders en route to the Halton AAA championship last week. The Hawks did participate in some elite tournaments earlier this season, preparing them for the caliber of volleyball they'll like face at OFSAA. "Without those competitive tournaments, I don't think we'd be prepared for the level of competition we'll see next week," said Babic. "I think it's more of a head game at this point. If we go in again very professionally, play the game we can play and don't let ourselves get down, I think we'll be okay." Aquinas hardly tested by Bishop Tonnis Aquinas, meanwhile, had a much easier time with Bishop Tonnis than it did in last Friday's Halton final, when the Raiders pulled out a two-set-to-one victory over the Lester B. Pearson Patriots. In fact, after Aquinas won the opening set against Tonnis by a 25-13 count and built a large lead in the second game, Raiders coach Peter Szpakowski emptied his bench and let the reserves see substantial playing time. BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER UP IN THE AIR: Arizona resident Rhonda Rajsich, the top-ranked female racquetball player in the world, leaps in the air to avoid the hit of Kelowna's Christie Van Hees during the final of last weekend's Great Canadian Challenge Championship, held at Premier Fitness in Oakville. Van Hees, the U.S. Open and Canadian national champion, upset Rajsich in three straight games (11-9, 11-7, 11-4). Trinity hoop dreams dashed by More The Holy Trinity Titans' dreams of competing in the provincial high school senior boys' basketball AAAA championships were dashed Tuesday by Hamilton's St. Thomas More Knights. More jumped on the Titans right from the opening tip-off of Tuesday's Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference qualifying match, played at Trinity, scoring the first 11 points of the contest and going on to a 51-38 victory. The Knights will represent GHAC at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AAAA tournament, slated for March 22-24 in Hamilton. "The first three minutes, we were just a little bit tentative," said Titans coach Vic Juzenas. "After that, I thought we picked up our aggressiveness and played even with them, but they're just too good a team to spot them that many points." Trinity tried a variety of approaches to get back into the game, narrowing the gap to seven points on several occasions, but was unable to draw any closer. Andrew Smith and Jamal McQueen paced the Titans with 10 points apiece, while Dave Ozimec chipped in with nine. Tyrell Vernon, a point guard with the national junior team, led More with 16. Juzenas, whose team went 10-0 in Halton regular-season play and defeated the Assumption Crusaders in last week's regional AAAA final, felt the Titans could play with the Knights -- they just needed more experience to do it. "Maybe we should have got into tougher tournaments, to get tougher games," he said. "I think our kids can play at that level, they just need to play it more often to get used to it." Juzenas expects three players from this year's team to return next season, where they'll be joined by a graduating crop of juniors that reached the Halton final this year. Conor Meschino (Laurier) and Dean Petrusevski (Ryerson) will play Canadian university ball next year, while Dave Zanic hopes to play at Fanshawe College and Smith will attempt to make Laurier's team as a walk-on. -- Jon Kuiperij See Serving page 37 CANLAN ICE SPORTS ­ OAKVILLE ASHL SPRING-SUMMER SEASON 2007 Men's & Women's Divisions Early Bird Registration Incentive! Season begins April 29th REGISTER TODAY 905-845-6989 www.icesports.com