Feature Article November 20, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeOff to OFSAA for Sharbot Lake Panthers
This Friday and Saturday the true capabilities of the Sharbot Lake High School (SLHS) Senior Boys Volleyball team will be determined at the Ontario Federation of Secondary School Athletic Association (OFSAA) finals in Rockland, Ontario.
The
SLHS team needed to finish in the top two in the Eastern Ontario (EOSSA)
tournament last Wednesday in Carleton Place in order to qualify for
the provincial final. They had finished third at EOSSA the previous
two years, and were coming off an emotional, though exhausting, win
just two days earlier to win the Kingston area championship.
Coach Bob Seitz told the News at the time that SLHS would not likely run into much resistance in the round robin games against Notre Dame and Athens, and they didnt. But in order to advance to OFSAA, they had to get past their semi-final opponent, St. Joes High School, who were the EOSSA and OFSAA champions last year.
SLHS lost the first set of the best of three match, but came back in their patented fashion, making the final against LEscale High School, the third best team in the province last year.
The string had run out for SLHS. After an exhausting week, and they lost in two close sets against LEscale to take home a silver medal.
The team was down on the drive home, but coach Seits told them they had accomplished what they had set out to accomplish, and had qualified for the 16-team OFSAA tournament.
The SLHS Panthers will be a team to beat at the OFSAA tournament, coming as they do from the powerhouse Eastern Ontario district. Despite their loss last week to highly ranked LEscale, SLHS has beaten them this year in tournament play, and they have defeated the defending provincial champions in order to qualify for the tournament.
A pep rally was held at the High School last week, and the team has been resting up and conducting 90- minute practices all week, so they should go into the provincial tournament refreshed.
The round robin portion of the tournament goes on Friday, and the playoffs take place on Saturday.
