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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, J an ua ry 1 8, 20 18 | makes bid for elusive volleyball title G raham P a ine /M e tro la nd St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders Alisa Ermarkaryan dives to save this volley and keep it in bounds, during this senior girls volleyball match against Notre Dame. HIGH SCHOOL Aquinas Young Raiders squad improves to 8-1 HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@burlingtonpost.com Since Alisa Ermar­ karyan joined the St. Thomas Aquinas (STA) Raiders, the senior girls' volleyball team has posted a regular season record of 35-3 over four years. But, for all their suc­ cess, a league title has elud­ ed them. A young Raiders team with four Grade 10 starters came agonizingly close last year, losing in five sets to the Hayden Huskies, who went on to win the bronze medal at the provincial high school champion­ ships. "Every year, we're in the final, but this is my last year. I want to make it to the final and get gold," the Grade 12 setter said. "This is the best team I've played on at STA." Coach Peter Szpakow- ski takes that one step fur­ ther. "This is the best team I've ever had in my whole time at STA," said the vet­ eran coach. The entire starting line­ up from last year's team has returned, and with a 21- 25, 25-23, 15-12 comeback win against a strong Notre Dame team, the Raiders improved their Halton Catholic Athletic Associa­ tion best record to 8-1. Aquinas has also won two tournaments and reached the final of a third, where they were edged 15- 13 in the deciding set by last year's provincial AAA champion, Havergal Col­ lege. The Raiders also swept the reigning Ontario AA champions, handing Bur­ lington's Corpus Christi its only loss in league play. And yet, Aquinas is still a young team. Ermar­ karyan is the lone Grade 12 in the starting lineup, which includes two players that are still junior-aged, Grade 10 right side hitter Katelyn Recagno and Grade 9 left side hitter Ma- tea Skenderija. Middles Nya Jones and Marina Vesovic, libero Li­ sa Papara and left side hit­ ter Megan Duffy are all in Grade 11. The team's youth showed at times in the win over Notre Dame. After dropping the opener, Aqui­ nas built a couple of size­ able advantages, 10-3 and 21-14. But, each time, the Raiders allowed Notre Dame to climb back within a point. Aquinas also showed its experience. Though the players may be young in terms of high school, they have a wealth of playing ex­ perience. Jones and Vesov­ ic were members of the Halton Hurricanes U-17 na­ tional championship team and the rest also have ex­ tensive club experience. "These kids play a lot of volleyball," Szpakowski said. "They make big plays when they need to." Papara served up four aces in the second set, Er­ markaryan came up with key points (a block at 23-22 in the second set and a well- placed tip at 11-11 in the third) and Skenderija's kill closed out the second set. In the deciding set, A- quinas went up 8-4, surren­ dered seven straight points, and with little room for error, rebounded to take seven of the last eight. The Raiders will get a good test in the first week of February at the 36-team Ontario all-Catholic tour­ nament. "That tournament is al­ ways a big one for us. It's a stepping-stone in prepar­ ing us for a run in the play­ offs," Szpakowski said. They will also have a re­ match with Corpus Christi in the final game of the reg­ ular season on Feb. 5. "If we can get out of Hal­ ton, we have a shot," Szpa­ kowski said. "But, it's such a tough league. There are five or six teams on both sides (public and Catholic) that could go to OFSAA and do well." Ermarkaryan looks for­ ward to that challenge. "It's fun. Playing high calibre teams, not only do you get better as a team, but it raises the stakes," she said. "It makes you work even harder for it." HOCKEY Elliot records fifth shutout, Blades win 3-0 Chris Elliot stopped 23 shots to record his league­ leading fifth shutout of the season in the Oakville Blades' 3-0 win over the Mis­ sissauga Chargers. After a scoreless first pe­ riod in Saturday's Ontario Junior Hockey League game, the Blades got the only goal they would need when Teth Buries scored a minute into the second. Spencer Kersten added a power-play goal at the 14:24 mark. Thomas Maia rounded out the scoring in the third, improving his team-leading point total to 43. Elliot also moved into third place in the Ontario Ju­ nior Hockey League with 19 wins. The second-year Blades netminder also ranks fifth in the league in goals- against average (2.18) and save percentage (. 930). Oakville made three moves before the Jan. 10 trade deadline. Oakville sent defenceman Zach Anderson (four assists in 13 games) to the Pickering Panthers and forward Ryan Derenzis (four goals, seven points in 23 games) to the Jr. B Ancaster Avalanche. The Blades add­ ed 17-year-old forward Eric Uba (nine goals, 22 points in 39 games) from the Welling­ ton Dukes. Uba had an assist in his Blades' debut Satur­ day. The Blades, who climbed five spots to 15th in the Cana­ dian Junior Hockey League national rankings are four points back of the Toronto Patriots for first place in the OJHL's South Division standings. FALL/WINTER/SPRING 2017-18 30-minute classes! 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