Mavericks aim for titles to cap club careers

The 15-and-under (15U) girls’ team is seeded first heading into the tournament, while the 18-and-under (18U) boys are ranked second. “It seems like it’s just starting,” says 18U coach Jeff Mooney, whose team has attended 11 tournaments this season and won gold in its first four Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) competitions. “Even though we’ve been going since September, nothing’s really happened until we get to where we play provincials.”

Mooney says it has been a long season with both high school and club demands – especially for his team since it’s a recruiting year – but most players have now decided where they’ll be going to school and can focus on the task of winning a provincial title. “18U is a tough division,” notes Mooney, who expects challenges from Toronto-area, London and Hamilton clubs. “If any team one-through-four wins, nobody will be shocked.”

But Mooney says his Mavericks have a strong chance of being the champions. “It’s tough over a three-day tournament, but if we play our best, I think that we’re the odds-on favourite,” he said.

The same goes for John Spack’s 15U girls, who have medalled in every OVA event they’ve entered at the 15U level. That’s only once been a gold medal, but they’ve still earned the top ranking since the losses they’ve suffered in finals have been against teams they’d beaten at other times. “Going into provincials as the No. 1 seed in the province speaks for itself,” says Spack, whose team will also enter the 17U championships ranked seventh. “We got it for a reason – we’re the most consistent team in the province.”

Spack attributes the success of his team to the overall consistency and work ethic of the girls in the Mavericks’ intense high-performance program. “That hasn’t wavered since the start,” he says. “They’ve been sticking to the program and bringing pretty much the same energy to every practice.”

Other Mavericks teams – which are based in the east end but have grown to attract players from across the city – that could make some noise at provincials include a group led by the 17U girls, along with the 16U boys and the 14U girls.

After the OVA championships, most squads will head either to the Eastern Canadian championships, or nationals – an especially big focus for the 18U boys since the tournament will be held in Ottawa May 1-3.

The players are looking forward to having home-court advantage, but what will make the competition even more special is the fact that they’ll be closing a chapter in their volleyball careers. “It’s our last year together because most of us are separating to go to university next season,” says Béatrice-Desloges student Jérémie Lortie, who will play for Laval next season. “It’s going to be the last time playing together with our friends, so I think the emotion is going to be there.”