31 | Thursday, M arch 2 , 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .insideH A LTO N .com Kevin Nagel, Oakville Beaver Sports Editor, knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports com o win u Added Cam pbell, who competed at Western University as a player, "There's som e serious pride with this win. We knew the serving had to come. The butterflies ju st had to settle and they had to get relaxed." Of course O T's coach w asn't overlooking Jean Vanier's late m is fortune -- with captain and offen sive cornerstone Em m a McKinnon m issing part of the second and third sets with a severely-cut chin after crashing to the floor on a dig. "That w as definitely som e bad luck," noted Cam pbell, who guid ed the Red Devils to a 12-1 cam paign, avenging a season-opening loss to Burlington Central with a three-set semifinal triumph. Buoyed by a couple of aces by Preston and left-side hitter Lexi Morrison, OT jum ped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set and was m uch tighter defensively. "We knew we had to pick things up and up our com m unication and energy," said M orrison, a transfer student from Toronto who m issed the early part of the season while her paperw ork w as being pro cessed. She served as an overall spark plug upon joining the team, con tributing about a dozen kills in the final. Isabella Marchetti w as a depend able presence at setter, while Ella Swan, another Grade 9 student, w as a solid two-way contributor up the middle. Mila Gracic's formidable defence "Connected to your Community " Iton Oakville Trafalgar rallies forT2 Jr. volleyball crown after losing first set to Jean Vanier By Steve LeBlanc Milton Canadian Champion sports editor Aquinas loses heartbreaker in Halton Tier 1 Sr. volleyball final By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff It w as a long coaching hiatus for Kirsten Cam pbell, but a quick bee line back to cham pionship form upon her return. With no junior coach in place and her daughter Zoe Preston's first year of high school volleyball in jeopardy, Cam pbell stepped up to lead the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils in late November. Back on the high school sports scene after more than two decades -- having coached OT to back-toback regional titles in the early '90s -- she'd revisit that cham pionship feeling at Sheridan College last Thursday. With their title hopes hanging in the balance after a 25-17 opening set loss to Jean Vanier, the Red Devils served up a huge comeback -- liter ally -- to capture Halton Tier 2 gold. Shoring up their efforts at the ser vice line and on defence, OT rebound ed with a 25-12 victory before mount ing an 8-2 hammerlock in Game 3 and eventually winning 15-7. "This feels am azin g... so good," said Grade 9 middle Preston, who had seven straight service points -- including three aces -- to high light the tiebreaker and clinch the school's first junior girls' volleyball cham pionship in 21 years. "I knew (in the third set) I ju st had to get it over the net. That's what gives us a rally. Our serving w as so m uch bet ter in the second and third sets." Oakville Trafalgar's Isabella Marchetti and Ivana Naumuvska go up to block Jean Vanier's Claire File in last Thursday's Halton Tier 2 junior final. | photo by Nikki Wesley - Oakville Beaver and som e timely playm aking from Lauryn Chew and Olivia Cursio also factored into the cham pion ship win. Sporting seven club players this year, the Red D evils lost ju st three sets through the regular season, including one in a tough 2-1 win over Jean Vanier (25-17, 14-25, 15-10). For the second year in a row, the St. Thom as Aquinas Raiders lost a heartbreaker in the Halton senior girls' volleyball final. The Raiders dropped a five-set 23-25, 26-24, 26-24, 13-25, 15-8 decision to Burlington's Dr. Frank Hayden H uskies in the Halton Tier 1 AAA cham pionship game at Sheridan College last Thursday. "We knew it w as going to be a battle," said Aquinas coach Peter Szpakow ski, whose team won a close three-set m atch against Hayden in the regular season. "We had our chances in the sec ond and third set." The second set w as tied 24-24 and Aquinas had two set points, leading 24-22, in the third. Despite the similarities -- Aqui nas again posted the best regular season record, 10-1 -- this w as a very different Raiders team. Libero Paulina Clifford w as the lone returning player on a squad that had four Grade 10s (M arina Vesovic, Megan Duffy, Nya Jon es and Lisa Papara) in the starting lineup and had a roster that w as more than half junior aged. A quinas started well, building an early 10-5 lead in the open ing set. Setter Alisa Erm arkaryan got the ball to Duffy, Jon e s and see Teams on p. 32 YOUTH SOCCER'fjgp OUTDOOR HOUSE LEAGUES AT APPLEBY COLLEGE & ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 2003-2013 LEAGUES: $207.96 2014/15 SOCCER TOT! 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