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The Canadien champion, Tuesday, ffôceVtber 19, 2000'- 23 SP OR Merchants' winless skid hits ive games Plhois by GRAH-AM PAINE E.C. Druuy Spartans Marlon Jamieson and Heather Arbuckle tumn back th18 iroquois Ridge strlker clurlng senior volleyball play Wednesday. Drury won the match 2-1. ,-ýDrury seniors win at ho-me E.C. Drury High's senior girls volîsybail iesm Moments earlier the bota staged an excitir bas a towering tank shead if il hopes 10 equal lasi rally - fiaeled by three aces fromn Marion Jailies yesr'î 9-1 regular seson. -but feIl juil short of a gaine two triumph ai Wednesday afternoon ri home, the local ladies tweep of the Tralblazers. cleared the initial hurdle toward tisat goal - oui- Efforts by Kaiherune Irvine sud Michelle Merr distancung Oakville's Iroquois Ridge 2-1 (25-17, helped force tIhe comeback, but a slow atari a 23-25, 15-5). subtandard back court defense were a 11111e The Spartans' lis break"g wiu, which squared much 10 overcome. iheir record ai 1-1, was powered by stroug serving lie Jamieson sisters stoo1 tall in die gaimeo fîumn Heather Arbuckle and Brin Chaisson as well win with impresuive digs sud kilis. as tîmely kills from Anne Jamieson. 1Their efforts were sspecially effective duri Dr collecteti four unausswered pointa on iwo several long rallies - thse majoity of which w separate occasions cin route 10 victory. ini dis bometown team's favour. îg id ltt ad ng tt By STEVE lOBLANC The Champion The Jr. A« Merchants continue to spread holiday cheer throughout the Ontario Provincial League's Western Conference. Now if only îbey could save tome for their own fans. As the calendar inches dloser to Christmas, Milton is becoming more char- itable with division rivaIs - giving away wins like one of Santa's litile helpers. And Sunday might ai Mississauga' s lceland Arena, ail that was missing was the gift-wrapping. In their biggest display of generosity this season, the Merchants gave a complete non-effort from the initial puck drop onward and were humbled 6-1 by the Chargera. This marked the local luniors third bass in a row - something they haven't expe- rienced in several years, since before the Gregg Carrigan/Marty Williamson era. "It's been a while since we plsyed ibis funky," said general manager Nick Slawson. Multon's GM went on 10 cite shaky staris sud poor executionas as reasons behind the club's recent rut. Pitiful performance Both sbortcomings made an appearance ai lceland Sunday. The Merchants feil behind 18 seconds mbt the gamte - on a blatant giveaway by captain John Nadalin - sud exhibited litile focus or intensity the resi of the way. At one point it looked as though they migbt gel wbitewashed for the second lime in nine days, but Jason Harshaw - who prevented a shutout againsi Brampton December 7 - spoiled Charger Mike Corrado's hopes for a goose egg wiih a lengthy slapshot eigbt-and-a-half minutes mb othe third period. Assisting on the loue marker were Shane Remenda sud team scoriug leader Andy Rozak, one of many veterans who simply went througb the motions Sunday. Recently returning from York University, Ricb Williams - a former Merchant tumed Charger - îallied twice for Missîssauga. Alto potting a pair were Andrew Schembri and Kevin Tracey. About the only signa of life Milton gave came ai the tail end of the nigbt wben they engaged their gueta in a bandful of fights - none of which were of much couse- quence. At home Friday, Milton spent an game of catch- up against the bd selingi Blades. They erased five one- goal deficits arfore surrendening an overtime tally and osing 6-5. Mental miscues and lacklustre defense narred the Merchants' performance - t'hich marked the return of their power- play prowess, with three of their five goals coming with the man-advantage. Late surge l1'ozak netted his l6ih and l7th goals of the season within the final 10 minutes of regulation. Chipping in singles were Dan DeLong, Harshaw and Nadalin - who stunned opposing cager Mati Collaton with a centre-ice blast with just iwo sec- onds to go in the opening frame. Picking up an assist on that goal was new goalie Richard Fournier, who sîopped 17 of 19 shots in the firsi but was less than stellar over the balance of ihe night. Marc Pinizzotto dclivered the gamne- winner for Oakville. It was his second of the game. Milton's losi weekend brought their season record to 18-10-4-1 and dropped them to third place in the West. Merchant notes: James Coleman missed Sunday's game after being involved in a car accident on the way to tceland. He was not seriously hurt.. Debuting with Milton this past weekend was 20-year-old forward Ben Frank, who recently toiled with the University of Toronto ..Milton hosts Bramalea tonight at 8 p.m. and finish a two-game homes- tand Fniday against Hamilton. Racing team needs skiers The Milton Heights Racing Club still bas spaces available on ils skiing and snowboarding tearus. The organization is looking for racers six to 19 years of age to fi11 out their ranks. Weely practices are held ai nearby Gien Eden Ski Area while competition is held ai resoris throughout southern Ontario. Those who'd like to sign up, or obtain furiher information, are asked to caîl Lin Leeson ai 336-5382. os 7 Sized«» Bv1Vo Ow!V A-PACKAGE *Uwy. fuel co.uucpdteng « f , te ..,.h,. I.-s *81/NI atm. j.,luS/, frght & -1.5 Litre VVT-l engins PI/E -Tilt ett.d.g wlth'1375 down -1"tirs t. ped soul. MSRP $14,315 à, Id