St. Mike’s volleyballers finish at the top
With a 3–1 finals win over St. Andrew’s College Nov. 6, St. Michael’s Blues finished the Division 1 boys’ volleyball conference season undefeated.
Their 6-0 regular season and 3–0 playoff showing results in a berth in the OFSAA championships, which begin Nov. 21. If the Blues win the provincial title it will be the school’s third title in four seasons. They won in 2011 and 2010.
Despite losing 25–19 in the first set, the Blues took the next three sets, 25–22, 25-21, and 25-17.
Led by veteran coach Alain Arseneau, the Blues carried their regular season momentum into the playoffs, where they held home court advantage and clinched a bye into the semifinals. They won their semifinal game against Crescent School 3–1.
The Blues were tough to beat on defence all year. They registered shutout wins over Appleby College, TFS, Hillfield Strahallan School and Crescent School in the regular season.
Panthers take the South
Lawrence Park Panthers are champions in South division junior girls basketball after beating North Toronto Norsewomen 44–34 on Nov. 5 in the finals at Monarch Park Collegiate.
The win caps an undefeated season for the Panthers, who went 5–0 in the regular season and beat Central Tech Blues 54–31 in the semifinals.
The Norsewomen, who finished second in the standings, were stung by the Panthers for the second time. Their only regular season loss was also to Lawrence Park.
Lawrence Park falls short
Lawrence Park’s junior boys volleyball team fought to get to the regional finals, but fell in the year’s last game.
The Panthers, who finished second in the region’s East division, lost 2-0 to the division champion Riverdale Raiders on Nov. 7.
The two-of-three set match was tough for Lawrence Park, who had to battle the home court noise at Riverdale Collegiate along with a pesky keep-it-up defence and solid serving by a Raiders team that had an 8–0 regular season and home court advantage through the playoffs.
The Panthers had had nervous playoff success, winning third-set tiebreakers against Parkdale Panthers on Oct. 30 and west division winner Bloor Bears on Nov. 5.
