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24 Sports Oakville Beaver DENTURES COMPLETE DENTURE $ 349 ea. 905-842-8209 LIMITED TIME OFFER SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2008 Red Devils' youth, inexperience exposed in loss to Georgetown Nerves played role in Halton volleyball final loss By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR DEREK WOOLLAM / OAKVILLE BEAVER DEVILS GO DOWN: Oakville Trafalgar's Lizzy Siklos (left) and Jenny Pierce attempt to block a Georgetown hit during Thursday's Halton high school senior girls' volleyball final at Sheridan College. Georgetown defeated the Red Devils 25-20, 28-26. Inexperience and lack of depth finally caught up with the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils senior girls' volleyball team. The Red Devils appeared nervous and jittery during Thursday's Halton final at Sheridan College, head coach Maria Seto felt, and it cost them. Facing the perennially-powerful Georgetown Rebels, OT was hardly in the first game (a 25-20 loss that the Devils trailed in by as many as eight points) and then squandered a 22-16 lead to lose the second game 28-26. "I think it was inexperience at crucial times, and they were a little awed by the venue," said Seto, whose nine-player squad included two Grade 9 students and two Grade 10s. "We made crucial nervous errors... missed serves, shanked balls on service reception... I think it was basically nerves." Not that the Rebels didn't have anything to do with it, though. Georgetown has won 11 of the past 13 Halton senior girls' titles, defeating OT in four of the last five finals. "Georgetown just has more depth. They even have a really nice midget team, and that midget team could probably beat some of our junior teams," Seto said. "They have the elementary schools in Georgetown, a club there, a lot more development in the earlier grades. They just feed on that." Georgetown raced out to 4-1 and 10-4 leads in the opening game, taking advantage of some unforced errors by the Devils. The Rebels took a 20-12 advantage when an OT spike went out of bounds and, though the Devils won eight of the next 12 points, Georgetown held on for the five-point victory. OT appeared to have righted the ship in the second game. Trailing 9-7, the Red Devils ran off five straight points and gradually increased their advantage to 19-13. Georgetown, after calling a couple time outs, slowly began the comeback. The Rebels served up a pair of aces and got kills from Chelsea Jensen, Kodi Veenstra and Lindsay McCabe to build a 24-23 lead. OT power Jenny Pierce made a nice tip on the next point to tie the game 24-24, but subsequently served the ball into the net to give the Rebels the lead once again. After the next few points went back and forth, McCabe ended the match with a smash that barely eluded Pierce's diving dig attempt. McCabe attributed Georgetown's comeback to team spirit. "We didn't have the same energy in the second game. When we got ourselves pumped up more and cheered after every play, we found they got down more and that gave us a chance to get back," she said. "It's such a team sport. When one person's down, everyone's down, but if one person gets up, everyone gets up." McCabe said the Rebels' game plan was to shut down the OT power duo of Pierce and D.D. Dionisio, noting the Devils played into Georgetown's hands when they started to tip the ball. The Rebels will host Cardinal Newman Tuesday in the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference championship game. OT, meanwhile, sees its season come to an end. "I'm certainly very proud of their accomplishments," said Seto, whose team went 10-0 in regular-season play and also won two tournaments. "It was a real mixture of ages, and yet they really worked well together." Blades draw Milton in Round 2 High school playoffs continue If Oakville Blades head coach and general manager Carlo Coccimiglio had things his way, the Blades would have started their second-round Provincial Junior A Hockey League playoff series last night. Unfortunately for the Blades, the team was unable to obtain ice time at its home rink, Joshua's Creek Arenas, last night (the Oakville Hornets girls' house league tournament runs this weekend as well). That means Oakville will have to wait for 8 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday) to open its series with the Milton IceHawks, a team that can use all the rest it can get after upsetting the Hamilton Red Wings in the opening round. "They'll get a couple days to recover," Coccimiglio said of the IceHawks, who concluded a five-game ousting of the Red Wings Thursday in Hamilton, Milton's ninth game in a 14-day stretch. The Blades, meanwhile, were enjoying a firstround bye, earned with their first-place finish in the West Conference regular-season standings. They didn't exactly have their feet up the past couple weeks, however. "The players were focused at practice. We had two good weeks of hard practice, got lots covered and fixed up areas we had to work on," said Coccimiglio. "They want to get started." Strictly on paper, the series is a mismatch. Oakville steamrolled its way to a 39-6-4 record this season, highlighted by a 20-game winning streak that spanned nearly two months. The IceHawks, by contrast, finished sixth in the conference with a 22-20-7 mark, and weren't even sure if they'd qualify for the playoffs until the final days of the season. But that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous, said Coccimiglio, who was impressed with the IceHawks' desire and effort Thursday. "They're young and they're energetic, and they're coming off a high right now," he said. "We have to be careful and play the game we know we can play. We don't underestimate any opponent." Game 2 of the series is likely to be played Wednesday in Milton. Coccimiglio hopes to have Games 3 and 4 in Oakville next weekend. -- Jon Kuiperij Boys' basketball and girls' volleyball were in the spotlight this past week with their regional championship games, but they have not been the only sports being contested in Halton high school playoff action. The boys' and girls' hockey postseasons are also well underway, and continue next week. Boys' hockey The Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils and Nelson Lords opened their quarter-final series yesterday (Friday), as did the Loyola Hawks and Abbey Park Eagles. The second and final games of those series are scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday, unless the first game of the series was decided by five goals or more. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish is already through to the semifinal round, having defeated Christ the King 6-1 in its quarter-final series. The other quarter-final features the Lester B. Pearson Patriots and Georgetown Rebels, with the decisive game going Tuesday after the teams tied 2-2 in their opening affair Thursday. Semifinal series will be contested Thurs, Feb. 28 and Tues., March 4. The one-game Halton final is slated for Thurs., March 6. Girls' hockey Semifinalists have already been determined in girls' hockey. The T.A. Blakelock Tigers and Loyola Hawks are Oakville's lone remaining hopes for a Halton title, following the Tigers' 6-1 win over Georgetown and Loyola's 4-3 edging of Christ the King in the opening round. Blakelock and Loyola will meet in semifinal play Monday at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre, a 3 p.m. start. The winner will advance to face either Nelson or Notre Dame in the two-game Halton final, which begins the following day.