Sydenham Golden Eagles are golden at KASSAA

Feb 25, 2016

(with files from Katie McNichols)

The Sydenham Golden Eagles swept the Regiopolis Notre-Dame Panthers 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-22) in the Kingston Area Secondary School Athletic Championships (KASSAA) on February 21 at Queens University.

The Eagles faced off against their long-time rivals, the Regi Panthers, for the third year in a row at the KASSAA championships. The Eagles finished in second place after the regular season with a record of 11-1, their only loss coming to the Panthers, who went undefeated all year.

But in the final game of the KASSAA tournament it was The Eagles who took the early initiative, opening up an 8-3 lead early in the first set and Regi was unable to battle back. Strong serving and impressive passing kept the Eagles in the drivers seat throughout.

Following the win, assistant coach, Scott Cashol, who has been coaching the team alongside head coach Katie May for the last seven years, credited the team’s composure for their victory.

“When the game became challenging, our team remained resilient and disciplined. So for example, when Regi would go on a point run, setter Katie McNichols stuck to our game plan of 'next job, next job'; and rather than panicking and losing focus, she stayed focused and continued to run our offense. The win was a total team effort and every single member of our team did the job they were supposed to do,” May said.

Cashol said that the girls’ hard work and commitment really paid off and he was thrilled to see the team experience success at KASSAA.

With the big win, the team now heads to the AAA OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) championships, which take place in North Bay from March 7 to 9. Cashol said that going in, the game plan for the girls “is to continue to play competitively but also to just enjoy the experience.”