Forest City Bronze
Forest City Volleyball Club’s 18U boys’ and girls’ captured matching bronze medals at the Canadian championships in Ottawa.
The boys’ team took a mid-match pep talk by assistant coach Pete Sidler to heart and roared back to defeat Alberta Red Canuck 23-25, 28-26, 16-14 in the race for third place.
The guys were coming off a difficult semifinal loss to the Ottawa Mavericks, the eventual tournament champion.
Sidler’s talk was the turning point, head coach Justin Fish said. “Pete laid into the guys, told them they weren’t showing any heart. Then all of the guys started yelling and getting fired up. Even though we faced match point at 24-23, the guys battled back and we won the set 28-26.”
Girls’ team head coach Vaughan Peckham was similarly proud of his players.
“The Forest City18U girls saved their best performance for the biggest stage. Going in as underdogs, they responded on the national stage with passion and performance that made us all proud and gained them respect from teams across the country.”
The girls’ team also includes assistant coach Patti Pumputis, Georgia Robinson, Allison Peters, Keely Armstrong, Johanna Ovsenek, Sarah Vitali, Melissa Morelli, Stephanie Kantzos, Christina Grail, Sarah Allan and Katarina Chan.
The boys’ side also includes team staffer Kevin Duquette, Andrew McWilliam, Derek Kuiack, John Drummelsmith, Justin Scapinello, Kevin Rowe, Andrew Ross, Adam Orth, Jordan Timpany, T.J. Sanders and Bryan Duquette.
Chan, a libero, was named to the girls’ tournament all-star team, an honour matched by McWilliam, a power hitter, among the boys.
Steve Coad, London Free Press
