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SportsOakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2010 37 By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF MILTON It would have been easy to write off the Pilgrim Wood Dolphins at many points this season. You could have dismissed their chances of winning the Halton elementary school girls volleyball championship when they lost the East final to Sunningdale. Or when Sunningdale came within two points of elim- inating the Dolphins in the Halton semifi- nals. Or when the powerhouse Stewarttown Stingers took the opening set of Wednesdays Halton final at Miltons E.C. Drury High School. And each time you would have been wrong. Showing a knack for making the most of second chances, Pilgrim Wood became the first Oakville school to claim the Halton title since River Oaks in 2003. Theyve been a resilient team throughout the whole season, said Dolphins coach Denis Villanueva-Brouwer. I think they just really wanted it. After dropping the finals opening set to Stewarttown and falling behind 2-0 in the second, Pilgrim Wood responded with an incredible run that saw it take 36 of the next 42 points. That stretch was capped by a remarkable display of serving by Ateya Allen, who delivered five straight aces while helping the Dolphins run up an insurmountable 11- 0 lead in the deciding set. So dominant were Allens serves that Pilgrim Wood only had to play the ball on three of those points. She serves the ball so hard and is able to place it so well. That was incredible, said Villanueva-Brouwer. We had amazing serv- ing all night. Allen certainly wasnt alone. Pilgrim Woods consistent service game allowed the Dolphins to string together several long runs in the match, each with different players serving Tori Gorrell (nine points, includ- ing four aces), Shanelle Mullany (eight), Madi Campaigne (six) and Allen (five). Pilgrim Wood racked up 12 aces in the match; on eight other points, Stewarttown failed to return the ball. That meant the Dolphins earned more than a third of their points without having to play defence. When they had to, though, the Dolphins were very good at it. Taylor Scott and Mullany passed the ball very well and Jenny Torrens did a good job setting. It would have been easy for her to continually go to Gorrell who could stretch her hands above the net without even leaving the ground but Torrens moved the ball around the court enough to prevent the defenders from keying on Pilgrim Woods big hitter. Gorrell still came up with her share of kills and blocks but with the Dolphins up 14- 6 and on the verge of the title, the final point was fittingly won by Scott, who was celebrat- ing her birthday. Villanueva-Brouwer said it was the teams positive attitude that turned the match around after the 25-19 loss in the first set. I think the adrenaline just got them feed- ing off each other, the Pilgrim Wood coach said. The girls are really supportive of each other. Once they had that energy they carried it right to the end. After an undefeated regular season, Pilgrim Wood fell to Sunningdale in East final last week. But with the top two teams advancing, the Dolphins got another chance. That loss was devastating for them at the time but the day after it was a different story, Villaneuva-Brouwer said. There was so much positivity (at practice) that I knew they would bounce back from that. And they did. Meeting their Oakville rivals in Wednesdays semifinal, they split the first two sets before Pilgrim Wood took the third and deciding set 15-13. And with 10 of the 13 players including all six starters gradu- ating, the Dolphins had all the incentive they needed. In the final, they easily won the sec- ond set 25-8, then raced out to the 11-0 lead in the third. Stewarttown did make it inter- esting by scoring six straight but the Dolphins stopped the rally to win 15-6. Other members of the Pilgrim Wood championship team are Maddie Cummins, Maria Lagounova, Caitlin Brush, Addie Henstock, Rita Lynn Lirantzis, Stephanie Durfy, Melissa Hudson and coach Shelley McAvoy. Pilgrim Wood refuses to lose in elementary v-ball playoffs Dolphins become Oakvilles first Halton champ since 2003 DYNAMIC DOLPHINS: The Pilgrim Wood Dolphins won the Halton District School Boards elementary girls volleyball Tier 1 championship Wednesday in Milton, becoming the first Oakville school to accomplish the feat since 2003.