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SportsOakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 201028 By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Dont blame Nova and Niki Bozinoski if they dont want the summer to end. The teenage sisters have spent the last few weeks adding to their medal collec- tions, each winning beach volleyball gold with their partners at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympics and Nova adding a gold at the provincial under-16 championships. The Bozinoskis are after even more hardware this week as they compete in the Ontario Summer Games in Sudbury. The AAU Junior Olympics, held in Virginia Beach, featured squads from the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Nova and partner Sydney Krizmanich went undefeated in their eight games to win the under-16 championship, while Niki and teammate Tia Miric ran the table en route to the under-14 title. For Nova and Carlisle resident Krizmanich, winning gold at a major tournament is nothing new. The duo also won the Canadian under-16 champi- onship last year. This one felt pretty cool, Nova, 15, said of winning the AAU title, but nation- als last year was the highlight of my sum- mer. That was the best volleyball we ever played. The team is expected to continue its success at the Ontario Summer Games, where it is the top seed in the tourna- ment. Niki, an under-12 provincial champion two years ago, is in her first season with Thornhill resident Miric. At the AAU Junior Olympics, the team quickly man- aged to adjust to nets that were five inch- es higher than it was accustomed to. At the beginning, we didnt really know how to do anything about it. We were hitting the ball into the net, said Niki, 13. We had to work on shots, more than just killing the ball. It wasnt one hit to end the play. The play keeps going until one team makes a mistake, and we had to be the team that didnt make a mistake. Despite their youth, Niki and Miric fin- ished fifth overall at last weekends provincial U16 championships. Niki is teaming up with a new partner, Rachel Petcoff of London, at the Ontario Summer Games. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics work, said Niki. Our relation- ship isnt as strong as other partners, so well have to try and work it out on the court. The Bozinoski sisters havent regularly played on the same team beach or indoor for several seasons. Theyre looking forward to that opportunity this fall as Niki joins her older sister at Abbey Park High School. Niki will play senior, for sure, said Nova, who played senior volleyball herself as a Grade 9 two years ago. JUNIOR OLYMPIC GOLD: Sisters Nova (left) and Niki Bozinoski, pictured on the beach volleyball court at Arnolds Sports Bar, show off the gold medals they recently earned at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics. Beach volleyball players enjoying successful summer RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER