Mar 2001
LAND O'LAKES -NEWS & VIEWS HomeValiant Lady Vikings defeated
by David Brison
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The North Addington Lady Vikings travelled to Chatham, Ontario for the OFSSA finals for Class A schools, but failed to qualify for the finals in the 16-team tournament.
NAEC was seeded 11th and lost their first two matches against Marymount (22-25, 23-25) and Ecole Lescale, the 3rd seed in the tournament (16-25, 13-25). Coach Ron Pethick, knowing then that he could not qualify for the eight-team finals, used his bench freely in the remaining match in the first round and in the consolation round, and didnt win any subsequent matches.
We never really were able to get into synch, said Pethick. In volleyball there is a fine line between playing decent and playing good. We were decent but could never really get it together. It certainly wasnt through a lack of effort. Against Marymount, we were leading 23-17, but let it get away and lost 23-25. That was probably a turning point.
He added, There werent any really overpowering teams in the tournament. If we had been able to play like we did against Quinte Christian in the Central Ontario Play-Downs, we could have done well against any of the teams. We were relatively inexperienced at this level. I was very proud of the girls everyone associated with the tournament remarked on how well they represented our school, on and off the court.
The Lady Vikings have a solid nucleus of players returning and are looking forward to next year. Coach Pethick, a retired teacher, thinks there is a good chance that he will return next season to coach.
Although the team was disappointed that they couldnt really hit their stride in the OFSSA finals, they certainly should be satisfied with winning the Central Ontario Play-Downs and qualifying for the finals.
