With five of seven team members in their rookie season of OCAA badminton competition, a pre-Christmas tournament at Fanshawe College in London offered an excellent opportunity for the Collège Boréal Vipères freshmen to cut their teeth at a post-secondary level.

Sophomore Michelle Kozlowskyj, for her part, looked right at home.

A Sudbury native and graduate of E.S. catholique du Sacré-Coeur, Kozlowskyj place second in women’s singles play, beating Oryca Ocampo (Conestoga), Kate Huang (UTM), Riley Hogan (Fanshawe) and Trina Ngu (Fanshawe), before falling in the final to Victoria Duong of Conestoga.

Kozlowskyj teamed with Katelynn Gravelle in 2015-2016, finishing third at the Regional playdowns and advancing to the OCAA championships. Her versatility offers some very intriguing possibilities to the Boréal coaching staff, as they spend the next few months sorting out where best to slot their athletes.

“She has the strength to play in singles, but we also have to take into consideration the other schools, and who they place where,” noted Vipères assistant coach Valérie Breen. That thought also applied to another Sudbury native, also a former Griffons, as Domynik Huot made his OCAA debut.

“I thought Domynik would play well in singles, but he also played very well in doubles.” With head coach Mike Dionne unavailable this past weekend, Breen stepped in to guide the young squad that will be hosting the East Regionals on February 3rd and 4th (2017).

“I was pretty impressed with the way everybody played,” she said. “Certain people surprised me with certain aspects of their game. Domynik is definitely someone to keep an eye on, because he catches on so quick.”

The 2016-2017 edition of the Boréal badminton team also includes Emilie Roy, Aurillia Rochon, Megan Tallon, Raphael Hawey-Deshaies and Fabien Martel.