Flurry Flutter to Silver
The North Bay Flurry girls’ 15U volleyball team competed in the Ontario Volleyball Championships April 11-13 at the RIM Park Centre in Waterloo, earning a silver medal during the grueling three-day tournament.
The Flurry were ranked 27th out of the 64 teams that qualified for provincials following the completion of league play. Their ranking earned them a spot in Division 1 with the rest of Ontario’s Top-32 teams.
On Day 1, the Flurry were in tough as the lowest-ranked team in their pool. But in their first match they upset the No. 6-ranked Toronto Impact 2-1 (25-12, 21-25, 15-10).
In the next two matches, the Flurry came out on the losing end, losing 2-0 (20-25, 21-25) to the Durham Attack and 2-1 (25-13, 17-25, 9-15) to the Etobicoke Wildcats and qualified for Tier II in the top division.
On Day 2, the Flurry regrouped by defeating the Stratford Stingers 2-0 (25-16, 25-17) and the stubborn Niagara Rapids 2-1 (25-21, 18-25, 15-12), but missed out on first place in their pool despite a hard-fought 2-0 (24-26, 17-25) loss to the Durham Region Volleyball Club
But it was in the sudden-death playoff round that the Flurry saved their best for last.
The Flurry never dropped a set on the way to the finals, blowing past the Durham Grizzly 2-0 (25-16, 25-20) in Round 1, then followed with 2-0 victories over the perennial powerhouse Forest City team (25-13, 25-20) in the quarter-finals and the South County Bandits (25-22, 27-25) in the semifinals.
In the gold medal match, the underdog Flurry faced DVRC for a second time in the tournament, dropping the match 18-25, 20-25.
Natalie Williams, in her first season with the Flurry, was recognized for her hard work and improvement by receiving the team’s Award of Excellence.
Northbay Nugget
