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Oakville's Brown to represent U.S. at women's world curling championships Erika Brown earned the top seed for the USA Curling National Championships playoffs, but there was a much bigger prize that came along with it. With the berth in the page playoff, Brown's rink also guaranteed its spot as the American representative at the world championships based on its season-long point total. "Our goal since we put this team together was to get to the world championship," said the three-time Olympian, an American citizen who resides in Oakville. Oakville's Erika Brown and her rink will represent the U.S. at the world curling championships. | Photo by Michael Burns Jr. -- USA Curling 23 | Friday, February 12, 2016 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "We all feel like we have more left in us to accomplish in our careers. We all feel like we can be successful at a world championship." Brown's rink, including Allison Pottinger, Nicole Joraanstad and Natalie Nicholson, claimed top spot with a 5-1 record. Brown was scheduled to face Nina Roth's rink this morning (Friday) with the winner advancing to the final later tonight. Brown, Roth and Jaime Sinclair all had 5-1 records and 1-1 marks in head-tohead competition. That led to a draw-shot challenge to determine seeding. Sinclair was eliminated, leaving Brown and Roth with Brown taking the top seed based on her win over Roth in the round-robin. Brown is the defending national champion after claiming her eighth U.S. title last year in Michigan. Despite winning last year, her rink didn't have enough points to earn the world championship berth. Now she has the chance to do both. "We had multiple goals coming into this week. Our first goal was to qualify for the playoffs and to get into the 1-2 game," Brown said. "We want to be national champions, represent the U.S. We spend a lot of time trying to be in the moment and not look too far ahead." The world championships will be held March 19-27 in Swift Current, Sask. -- Herb Garbutt Aquinas aims to return to OFSAA volleyball Sr. girls beat Garth Webb to finish first in Halton play By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Jess Arnds didn't have to wait long to get some experience at the provincial high school volleyball championships. The St. Thomas Aquinas left side hitter not only got a call-up from the Raiders' junior squad for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) tournament in Grade 9, she ended up earning her share of playing time. Now a senior, Arnds and her Aquinas teammates are looking to get back to the Ontario girls' volleyball championships. "Being in Grade 9, it was a great opportunity to play at that level," she said after the Raiders wrapped up an undefeated regular season Wednesday. "It was a good experience and we'd like to be there again and be recognized as one of the best teams." Aquinas has already served notice it can be a player on the provincial stage. At last week's Ontario all-Catholic championships, Aquinas finished fourth in a 36-team field after losing a tough match to Bishop Allen in the semifinals. The three-time allCatholic and defending OFSAA champs edged the Raiders 15-13 in the third and deciding set. But the Raiders know their 8-0 record guarantees them nothing in the highly competitive Halton playoffs. "There were three or four Halton teams in the top 12 (at all-Catholics)" said middle Jessie Nairn. "We're going to face some tough teams in our league, but that will keep us practising hard to get ready." That doesn't take into account publicschool contenders Nelson and Blakelock (71) and Garth Webb (6-2). "It used to be that you had to go to tournaments to get good games," said Raiders' coach Peter Szpakowski. "Now every game is a good one." Jessie Nairn (left) of the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders tips the ball past a White Oaks defender in a senior girls' high school volleyball game earlier this season. Aquinas wrapped up an 8-0 Halton regular season on Wednesday by defeating Garth Webb 25-21, 25-19. | Photo by Justin Greaves ­ Oakville Beaver Aquinas didn't need to be reminded how competitive the Halton league is Wednesday. A two-set loss to Garth Webb could have dropped Aquinas from first place to third in its division, a very real possibility when the Chargers jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the opening set. However, Aquinas rallied for nine of the next 10 points to take the lead and went on to a 25-21 win. Of the final 17 points in the opening set, the Raiders lost only one rally. "We just stayed positive and didn't focus on the score as much as getting the next point," said Arnds, who was an effective threat attacking from the back court. Aquinas went on to take the second set 25-19 to secure a first-round bye in the Halton playoffs. It will host the winner of Craig Kielburger (4-4) and Christ the King (5-3) next Thursday. "I'll take the bye any day," Szpakowski said. "I'd rather play two tough matches (to get to the final) than three." To carry their momentum through the Halton playoffs, the Raiders agree they'll have to minimize the unforced errors that put them in the early hole against Garth Webb. That's where the team's experience pays off. Setter Emma Guerin, a rep teammate of Nairn's on the Oakville Thunder, orchestrates a strong offence with plenty of attacking options that also include Mary Milecevich, Olivia Wilson and Lauren Duffy. Defensively, Nairn is a dominating blocker. "Balance and experience are our strengths," Szpakowski said. "They've played a lot of games together over the years and they trust each other. (Emma) is confident and has intelligent decision making." "Almost all of us have played together all the way through high school, so we're used to playing together," Nairn said. "And it seems the tougher the competition, the better we play." Heading into the playoffs in a league stacked with title contenders, that may prove to be the Raiders' biggest asset. Follow Halton sports on Twitter: @postbeaversport (Kevin Nagel, sports editor of Burlington Post and Oakville Beaver) @miltononsports (Steve Leblanc, Milton Canadian Champion) @herbgarbutt (Post, Beaver, Champion)