U17 Ballhawks Fly to Gold

The Chatham Ballhawks Under 17 Girls volleyball team went 10-1 on the way to capturing the gold medal at the Ontario Volleyball Challenge Cup in Wingham on Saturday.

The girls defeated the Waterloo Tigers – 25-14, 26-24 and Sarnia Twin Bridges – 25-23, 25-20 on the way to finishing first in their pool.

In the quarterfinals they took on the West Elgin Warriors and played almost error free en route to 25-11, 25-11 victories.

The most exciting match of the tournament came as the Ballhawks took on a talented Burlington Scorpions Under 16 team in the semi-finals. In spite of being up in the first set, the Scorpions took the first set with a win, 25-21. The Ballhawks fought back during a closely contested second set to win 25-23. During a thrilling third set, the Scorpions took an early lead – 10 – 4. The Ballhawks girls were able to keep their composure and only improved their execution throughout the match. They stormed back from being down 6 points, tying the game up at 13-13. After a Scorpions time-out – the Ballhawks scored two consecutive points thanks to two commanding kills by Maddy Hiltz.

In the gold medal final, the Ballhawks defeated a younger Waterloo Tigers Under 16 team – with scores of 25-8 and 25-15.

All team members contributed to a successful day – aided by the strong blocking of Hiltz, Amy Bultje and Julia Meidlinger – the consistent attacking of Laura Wiersma, Mandy Johnstone, and Nicole Hook – the aggressive defense and passing of Madie Green and Riley Kay and the leadership and setting of Alyssa Chacon. Team members Arielle DeHaw and Michaela Hanley were absent from Saturday’s competition.

The girls are next in action at a large competition February 2-3 taking place in Columbus, Ohio.