Stringing together three solid days of play was enough to allow the Northern Chill 16U Blue Cyclones to jump the ranks, somewhat, as the OVA (Ontario Volleyball Association) Provincials kicked off last weekend at RIM Park in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Seeded 15th in the upper sixteen of Division 3 play, the Chill were beaten out of the gate by the Ottawa Fusion (21-25, 19-25), but rallied to post back to back victories over the Steel City Ignite Blaze from Sault Ste Marie (25-18, 25-13) and the KW (Kitchener-Waterloo) Preds Valour (25-15, 25-23).

Re-ranked for day two play and bumped to #7, the Sudbury girls were equal to the task, though the followed the same itinerary as day one. A 14-25, 25-21, 15-17 loss to the Brant Tornadoes was followed by a pair of wins, first over the Durham Rebels Rise (27-25, 25-17) and then over the MVC (Mountain Volleyball Club) Helicon from Hamilton (25-16, 29-31, 15-6).

Now sitting at #3 overall in the top sixteen, the northern crew were not about to fall from grace on playoff Sunday, downing the Humana Flares from Toronto (25-19, 25-22) and then knocking off the KW Preds Valour once again (14-25, 25-15, 15-8), this time in quarter-final play.

Pitted against the second seed in the semis, the Blue Cyclones went three sets before succumbing to the Kingston Rock 25-18, 21-25, 15-6 and were unable to solve the Brant Tornadoes in the rematch, settling for fourth place following a 25-17, 25-27, 9-15 setback.

The 2024-2025 edition of the Northern Chill 16U Blue Cyclones included Kaylee Baillargeon, Ella Tourville, Keylee Laurin, Isabelle Bonish, Malin Brunette, Emma Firman, Maggie Brady, Lara Gray, Téah Luoma, Kendra Crew, Maggie Polischuk, Leah Serre, head coach Tammie McLoughlin, assistant coach Jill Schweyer and team manager Michelle Brunette.