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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, February 28, 2014 | 24 Jr. Raiders continue to dominate Seventy-nine and zero. That's the record of the St. Thomas Aquinas junior girls' volleyball team the past two years, following the Raiders' 2-0 win over the Georgetown Rebels in last Thursday's Halton Tier 1 championship game. The squad's recent domination has not been limited to high school opponents. Eight of the 15 players on the junior Raiders also form the Oakville Thunder 16-under rep team that has qualified for Ontario Volleyball Association Premier (top) division championship tournaments at both the 16U and 17U levels. "They just get so much court time," said Peter Szpakowski, who coaches both the Raiders and the Thunder. "They have a comfort level from playing together so long." The Thunder team has played together since Grade 6, when it was first brought together by Josie Guerin. Seven members of the Thunder/Raiders will play up with the Aquinas seniors at next week's provincial double-A championships in Thunder Bay. Blakelock wins junior Tier 2 The T.A. Blakelock Tigers completed a dominant junior girls' volleyball season last Thursday at Sheridan College, defeating the Garth Webb Chargers 2-0 in the Halton Tier 2 championship. The Tigers not only finished the Halton season undefeated at 16-0; they also won all 32 sets they played en route to those 16 victories. Blakelock coach Victoria Woodhead said she got a sense last year that the school might have a strong junior team this season, a campaign shortened by public teacher labour issues. But she did not realize how strong this year's team was until it was too late to compete in the stronger Tier 1 league. "At the beginning of the year, we were debating (Tier 1 or Tier 2). I left it up to our senior coach to decide," Woodhead said. "After we started getting practices in, we realized this was a really good team and asked to go up to Tier 1, but it was too late." In addition to running the table against its Tier 2 opposition, Blakelock also defeated several Tier 1 squads at Abbey Park, McMaster and Strathroy invitational tournaments. Woodhead attributed much of her team's success to the hitting abilities of co-captains Hazel Brown and Julia Scott, the setting of Grade 9 starter Maya Reid and the leadership of Kaleigh Jeffrey. Woodhead added that the Tigers, who also won the junior AAA Halton championship two years ago, will compete in Tier 1 next year. Garth Webb finalist in senior Tier 2 Liza Mishko couldn't hide her disappointment after the Garth Webb Chargers suffered their first loss of the season. "It's horrible," the team's captain said after Webb fell in four sets to the Pearson Patriots in the Halton senior girls' Tier 2 final Thursday at Sheridan College. "We fought hard but Pearson is a good team. They made a good comeback and sometimes you're just not lucky." The Chargers hadn't had to rely on luck too much this season. They were 13-0 heading into the final, having only dropped three sets this season. So when Webb took the opener against Pearson 25-22, it looked to be headed to the school's first girls' volleyball title. However, the Patriots rallied to take the next three, 25-23, 25-20 and then overcoming a 13-9 deficit to close out the match with a 25-20 victory. "The girls didn't give up and they fought for every point," said Carol Onate, who coaches the team with Megan Kerr. "We were happy with the way they handled themselves but there was a bit of inexperience that showed." That's understandable, given that the Chargers are essentially a junior team playing in senior. Mishko is the lone Grade 11 on the team and that made her wonder if she would even be playing this year. "I wasn't expecting to have a senior team," she said. "Basically, we're a Grade 10 team. We played great as a team and we came a long way to get here. Next year, we should be really strong." -- Jon Kuiperij and Herb Garbutt, Oakville Beaver staff Halton high school girls' volleyball champions were decided last Thursday at Sheridan College. Pictured clockwise from top, St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders' Jessie Nairn spikes over a Georgetown block during the Raiders' win in the junior TIer 1 final; Garth Webb's Teaghan Hignett bumps the ball during the Chargers' loss to Lester B. Pearson in the senior Tier 1 title game; and T.A. Blakelock Tigers co-captains Julia Scott (left) and Hazel Brown hoist the junior Tier 2 trophy following a victory over Webb. | Aquinas and Webb photos by Graham Paine, Blakelock photo by Nikki Wesley -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog R0012448869 Furnace Diagnostic Service only No additional charge for evenings and weekends $ 9 locations to serve you better www.aireone.com A+ RATING 905-849-4998 49 reg. $99