The Northern Chill 18U Avalanche girls are two for two when it comes to medal-winning performances in OVA (Ontario Volleyball Association) tournament action this year and they can thank their ability to crank things up in afternoon playoff competition for that.
Opening the 2024-2025 campaign by welcoming seven other Provincial Cup – Trllium Green C teams to Laurentian University last month, the Avalanche split their morning sets, playing even with the Markham Revolution Fury (23-25, 25-20), dropping two straight to REACH Dynasty from Toronto (21-25, 22-25) and sweeping aside the Barrie Elites Summit (25-16, 25-22).
The ebb and flow continued throughout the afternoon as the Sudbury girls tamed the Orillia Suns Chaos in the quarter-finals (25-19, 25-14), lost to the gold medal winning Steel City Inferno from Sault Ste Marie (18-25, 12-25) in the semis before claiming bronze with a 25-12, 20-25, 16-14 triumph in a rematch with the Markham Revolution Fury.
This past weekend, the Chill girls would find themselves in North Bay, site of the Challenge Cup – Trillium Green C playdowns with the locals enduring a very challenging start to their day indeed. Setbacks at the hands of both the North Bay Jr Lakers White Caps (18-25, 25-23, 9-15) and E381 from Etobicoke (17-25, 22-25) did not bode well for the Avalanche.
But the team could not have picked a better time to string together a three game winning streak, silencing the Oakville Thunder Storm (25-18, 25-21) in a wildcard game, outlasting the North Bay Jr Lakers Squall (26-24, 28-26) directly on the heels of that outing and advancing to the gold medal encounter thanks to a 25-21, 25-16 sweep of the Georgetown Impact Resistance.
A Georgian Cubs Atlas team that did not drop even a single set throughout the day proved to be too much for the Chill as the Sudbury reps managed to keep things tight, beaten 19-25, 19-25 and returning home with silver medals.
The 2024-2025 team roster includes Arianna Thibodeau, Olivia Lascelle, Avery West, Ella Dionne, Alaina Marolt, Isabella Deschenes, Emily Rocha, Caroline Reichle, Danika Bouffard, Jayda McKee, Emma Mathieu, head coach Adam Marolt, assistant coach Megan Merrylees and manager Francine Dionne.
