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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, March 4, 2016 | 26 Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "The girls would go to take a ball because they figured Sami couldn't get to it," Holmberg said. "She told them, `Just back me up, I can get there.' And there were times I don't know how she did, but she got there. She's a phenomenal athlete and she's definitely a leader out there." Surrounded by returnees Carmen Petersen, Ivy Gibson, Izzy Lynch and Leah Holden and newcomer Arden Goodfellow, the Eagles were soon soaring. The only other bump in the road came in the quarter-finals when the Hayden Huskies handed Abbey Park its first set loss. Hayden jumped out to a 16-4 lead before the Eagles reeled off nine straight points. Hayden held on for a 25-19 win and Abbey Park was forced to play a deciding set for the first time, with their season on the line no less. "I think that was a bit of a wake-up call," Holmberg said. "They suddenly realized, we can be beaten. It was a little bit of an a-ha moment." It's also where having someone who has faced crucial moments pays off. "That's where being in all those pressure situations at OFSAA help," Nevado said. "You go through that and you realize you just have to stay calm and play normally." Abbey Park never provided Aquinas with an opening in the final. With Nevado feeding power hitters Petersen and Lynch and Goodfellow and Gibson providing strong blocking, the Eagles built early leads in both sets. Now the Eagles hope to carry that success into the senior ranks, and possibly add another OFSAA banner to the Abbey Park gym. "It's great motivation for us," Gibson said. "We're looking forward to senior." Aquinas also has a bright future. It knocked off undefeated Burlington Central in three sets to reach the final, but the task of taking down another unbeaten team proved to be a little more daunting. "Central we hadn't played before so they were an unknown," said Aquinas coach Elisabeth Camastro. "Abbey "Connected to your Community" Abbey Park's junior champs set to make jump to senior By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff After winning back-to-back provincial high school titles, the bar has been set very high for Abbey Park's volleyball program. It's a standard the Eagles' junior girls' team is already striving for, though, and given their near-perfect season, it's not unreasonable to think they might one day add to that legacy. Of course, not many junior teams that can say they have an OFSAA gold medallist as their setter. Sure, a junior-aged player winning an OFSAA medal isn't unheard of. Junior players are often called up to get a taste of the OFSAA experience and Grade 9s making senior teams isn't unprecedented. But they usually stick with the senior team the following season. That's where Sami Nevado becomes an exception. After starting for the Eagles' OFSAA championship team in Grade 9, Nevado returned to junior this season. While that may seem like a step back, Nevado doesn't see it that way. "I thought it was going to be more of a rebuilding year for the seniors after winning OFSAA," Nevado said. "These are the girls that are going to be moving up to senior so I thought it would be better if we got used to playing together." The results have been spectacular. Abbey Park captured the Halton junior title with a 25-14, 25-15 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas, capping a season in which they dropped only one set while going 11-0 and winning the only tournament they played in. "Our goal was going to the Halton finals," said coach Wendy Holmberg. "We knew we had some great girls coming in and we had five back from last year so we knew we could be a strong team." But it did take some time working their new setter into the lineup. Abbey Park's Izzy Lynch (15) and Arden Goodfellow leap to attempt to block an Aquinas attack while Sami Nevado (inset, left) sets the ball during the Halton senior girls volleyball final. Abbey Park capped an undefeated season with a 25-14, 25-15 victory.| photos by Herb Garbutt -- Oakville Beaver Park was the only team to beat us, so there was a little bit of a psychological thing. We were a little nervous." Camastro said the Raiders showed remarkable improvement over the course of the season, no one more so than Sarah Da Silva, a first-time volleyball player who worked her way into the starting lineup by season's end. Megan Duffy and Grade 9 power Lisa Papara also had strong seasons for the Raiders, who went 9-2 including playoffs. Sheridan claims first OCAA men's volleyball medal in 22 years On Jan. 10, the Sheridan Bruins returned from the Christmas break and dropped a four-set decision to Fanshawe. The loss dropped Sheridan to 5-5, a pace that as it turns out would have left it out of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association playoffs. Last Friday, the Bruins and Falcons met again, this time with a berth in the OCAA championship game on the line. Sheridan had not lost since their January meeting, a run of 10 straight victories Though Fanshawe triumphed again and went on to claim the men's volleyball title, the Bruins also ended their season on a winning note, rebounding to edge Niagara College Knights in five sets to earn the OCAA bronze medal. That victory ended a 22-year drought between OCAA medals. "This is something I couldn't achieve in five years at Sheridan as a player and I'm so proud to be able to achieve it as a coach and to be a part of this group," said Sheridan head coach Frank Pento. "These guys have worked so hard ever since training camp and they deserve to be able to complete their season on this note." Sheridan dropped the opener in the bronzemedal match 25-21 but rebounded to win the next two 25-17, 25-23. The Knights, who had been swept by Sheridan to close the regular season, battled back to force a deciding set with a 25-21 win. The fifth set was close, 7-5, until Sheridan took eight of the final nine points to close out a 15-6 win. The OCAA tournament got off to a rough start as the Bruins dropped two of three sets against Seneca. Sheridan would spoil the hosts hopes for an upset by ralling to take the last two 25-19, 15-13. "We were down and out but our guys found some kind of spark," Pento said. "We played unbelievable defence in the fourth and fifth sets and we were able to steal a win." Sheridan carried that momentum into the semifinal, building a 13-7 first-set lead against Fanshawe. The Falcons were able to overcome the deficit to win a 25-23 decision. The Falcons took the next two 25-18, 25-22. Fanshawe was the only team to beat Sheridan in 2016. Despite losing the program's two all-time leading scorers, Josh Butler and Jeremy Fantin, Pento is encouraged by the players the Bruins will have next season. "The sky is the limit with the guys we'll have here next year between returning players and new guys coming in," he said. Among those eligible to return are Oakville's Matt Bandy, who joined the team for the second half and proved to be one of the league's best defensive players, averaging 2.79 digs per set. Butler was named to the OCAA West Division's first all-star team after averaging a team-best 3.4 points per set while Fantin was a member of the second team. Patrick Andula earned a spot on the OCAA all-rookie team. Blades, Hornets open playoffs The Oakville Blades open the Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs tonight (Friday) against the St. Michael's Buzzers with a 7:30 p.m. game at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday at St. Michael's Arena at 7 p.m. while the series returns to Oakville for Game 3 Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. St. Michael's hosts Game 4 Wednesday. The Oakville Hornets meet the Burlington Barracudas in first round of the Provincial Women's Hockey League playoffs. Game 1 was played Thursday with Game 2 set for Saturday at 4 p.m. at Joshua's Creek Arenas. The series shifts to Burlington for Game 3 Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at Mainway Arena.