OVA News

Mississauga's Rebecca Rivera dives for a ball

Earlier this summer Rebecca Rivera showed up to a beach volleyball tournament minus a playing partner.
Fortunately, her mother, Myra, managed to scare one up.
The rest, as they say, is history.
With nary a practice between them, Rivera, of Mississauga, and Autumn Bailey, from Burlington, both 14, took gold in the girls’ U16
division. It wasn’t a fluke. The pair clicked so well they went on to win two more golds in tourneys across Ontario. They ended the season by winning silver in U14 at the 2009 Canadian Beach Championship, recently concluded at Ashbridges Bay in Toronto.
Not bad for Rivera, who had never before medalled in the beach game.

“Autumn and I play so well together. On the court, it’s almost as if we know what the other is thinking,” said Rivera, who graduated in June from St. Veronica Elementary School with the Female Senior Athlete of the Year award.

This week, she’ll begin high school at St. Marcellinus, where she hopes to suit up for the Spirit.
Last winter, Rivera played indoor volleyball with the Burlington Blaze. Bailey belonged to another club. Before hooking up with Bailey, Rivera had gone through five partners, without a trip to the podium.

“It’s so important to have chemistry in beach because there’s only two of you … we have to depend on one another,” she said.
At the nationals, Rivera and Bailey just missed gold, falling 25-22, 21-17 to another GTA squad.
“They’ve been playing together much longer than us, so their communication was better than ours,” said Rivera. “Still, it was a close game … we just came up a bit short.”

What Rivera likes about beach volleyball is that it’s a finesse rather than a pure hitting game.
“Beach is more about placement; you have to find the open shots on the court,” she said. “It’s also a lot of fun.”
The 5-foot-7 teen, however, isn’t about to give up competing on the hardwood.

“I think there’s more potential for me there,” she said, no doubt thinking ahead to earning a university scholarship.
An accomplished setter – a pivotal position in volleyball – Rivera won the OVA Award of Excellence as a member of the Burlington U14 team that won bronze earlier this year at the indoor provincials in Tier 1 play.

Burlington also competed at the Canadian-American Invitational, held in March, winning gold against four top teams from Michigan and the top provincial team, London’s Forest City.
Joseph Chin, Mississauga News