Mavs come through under the gun to win 15U OVA title

The Mavericks won all six of their matches in pool play on the first day of the April 11-13 competition in straight sets, but things got much more difficult in the playoff round.

The top-seeded team in the province squeaked by Scarborough 25-23, 22-25, 16-14 in the quarter-finals, beat Oakville 25-23, 28-26 in the semis, and then were crowned champions with a 20-25, 19-25, 15-13 victory in the gold medal final over Aurora’s Storm Thunder. "I survived it," Mavericks coach John Spack wrote in an e-mail. "My hair was receding anyways – this just accelerated the process."

The OVA championship was the goal the girls set for themselves, Spack notes, and it's likely the “ridiculously intense” path to success they'll remember the most and grow from. “The overall consistency and work ethic of the girls hasn’t wavered since November,” Spack adds. “They’ve been sticking to the program and bringing pretty much the same energy to every practice.”

The 15U title was one of two won at the 18U/15U provincials by the east end-based Mavericks, as the 18U girls took the Division 2 event with nine-straight victories, including a 25-19, 22-25, 15-12 triumph over the National Capital Volleyball Club 16U team in the final.

The No. 2-seeded 18U Mavericks boys didn’t have as successful an event, losing out in the quarter-finals 23-25, 17-25 to Whitby’s Interclub. The result was similar to last year, when the same group of players finished fourth in Ontario, but then went on to claim a silver medal at the national championships.

They’ll be gunning for the same type of turn-around this year, although second place won’t satisfy the team when the 18U nationals take place in Ottawa May 1-3. “No. 1 – gold medal all the way,” power hitter Philippe Yeldon says of the Mavericks’ goals. “We win it, or it’s nothing.”

The players are looking forward to having home-court advantage – friends and family in the stands, sleeping in their own bed, the assurance of finding good food, no long hours travelling – 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,” notes Béatrice-Desloges student Jérémie Lortie, who will play for Université 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. We finished second the past two years at nationals, so I think this year we worked really hard to finally win it.”

The 15U Mavericks girls will also compete at the 16U provincial championships April 24-26, where they’re seeded seventh, and then will play in the May 8-10 15U Canadian East championships in Moncton, N.B.