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'Best comeback I've seen' gives Raiders Halton title For each of the past 13 seasons, Peter Szpakowski has coached a St. Thomas Aquinas Raider team in a Halton volleyball final. So he knows something about getting a team ready for the big game. Thursday at Sheridan College in the junior girls AA final, everything he thought he knew got thrown for a loop when his team fell behind the Pearson Patriots 21-11 in the opening set. "We knew (the Patriots) were good, but I thought we were prepared well," he said. "I was in shock when we went down so much." The situation looked so bleak, Szpakowski stood up and walked toward the end of the bench, prepared to make substitutions to give his starters a break and allow them time to regroup. As he reached the end of the bench, Kyler Philip served up a point. Then delivered another hard serve that Pearson couldn't return. Then Marisa Parsons hammered home a point and Julia Celestini tipped a ball over the Patriot blockers. Then Valentina Zapata drove home another point. By the time Philip finished serving, Aquinas trailed by one and her coach had taken his seat on the bench. Aquinas would fight off set points four times before pulling out a 31-29 victory that Szpakowski said was "the best comeback I've seen" in 20-plus years of coaching volleyball. "Early on, we got called for seven or eight net violations on our blocks," the Aquinas coach said. "We had to dig ourselves out of a hole. You have to give credit to the kids, they did it." Pearson came back to take the second set to even the match. "Our kids had to bounce back, again," Szpakowski said. Rachel Bleecker, who provided strong back-court defensive play in the opening-set comeback, served up five straight points to start the deciding set. That provided all the cushion Aquinas needed as the Raiders went on to capture the championship. "It was a battle. Obviously it was the top two teams," Szpakowski said of the teams that both finished the season 11-1 and split their regularseason meetings. "We had to play our best volleyball to win." Szpakowski said the Raiders also got strong performances from Paige Culver and Grade 9 setter Kaitlyn Brooks in the victory. "They were committed to defence. Our defence gave us the opportunities, and when we got them, we took advantage. Every time it was a different kid coming through for us." -- Herb Garbutt St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders players celebrate after winning a point during Thursday's Halton junior girls' volleyball AA final at Sheridan College. ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER 35 · Wednesday, February 29, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com Blades can advance to West final tonight The Oakville Blades have a chance to move on to the Ontario Junior Hockey League West Division final tonight (Wednesday) at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Oakville leads its best-of-seven semifinal series with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres 3-1 after splitting the last two games. The Blades took a 3-0 series lead Saturday with a 5-0 victory on home ice, but were denied the sweep Sunday as the Jr. Sabres earned a 4-1 win in Buffalo. Kyle Blaney sparked the Blades Saturday with two goals and two assists, while James Prigione made 24 saves to record the shutout. Brandon Denham, Tyler Karius and Martin Kudla also scored goals and Phil Hampton had two assists for the Blades. Sunday, Karius had the lone Oakville marker. Tonight's contest will begin at 7:30 p.m. Game 6, if necessary, would be contested tomorrow (Thursday) in Buffalo. March Break Soccer Fun Camps Ages 7 and up March 12 - 16 $400 Sign up today - limited spaces available! www.oakvillesoccer.ca/camps Online registration at