Ontario Volleyball division two tier three U16 boys gold
April 20, 2023
St. Thomas Express Railhawks U16 boys, Ontario Volleyball Association division 2 tier three gold medalists are, from left, front row - Malakai Khim-Bascombe, Khent Palangya, Eli Lim, Marcos Rodriguez-Fernandez, back row - assistant coach Scott Langley, Landon Findlater, Khanan Hernandez, Blake Milmine, Jack Kempster, Tyrese Dillard, Malik Hasan, Ethan Langley, Kahlen Hiebert, coach Curtis Langley.
By Rob J. Ross
WATERLOO, Ont. - The St. Thomas Express Railhawks U16 boys went undefeated on their final day to bring home gold from the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) championships.
St. Thomas dusted Superior, in two games, 25-9, 25-15, in the OVA division two tier three final, April 16 at RIM Park.
"It felt good to end the tournament with a gold medal," Railhawks' coach Curtis Langley said. "We won the gold medal match easily. Our players stepped up to play well knowing that in this pool the gold medal was ours to lose."
The Railhawks opened day three of the three day tournament, defeating the North Bay Lakers Surge, 25-21, 22-20, before downing Scorpions EXO, 25-15, 25-16.
"We were far and away the best team in the final day pool. We won all the games comfortably," Langley said. "We should have been in the tier above us had one set more gone our way."
Day two results of the three day event, prevented the Railhawks from being in the higher tier
"It was a long tournament," Langley said. "We came in third in our pool on the first day and then fourth in our pool on the second day. Those two results unfortunately put us in the bottom tier. We played well through most of the tournament, but made the mistakes one would expect from a newly formed team and that cost us during important matches."
St. Thomas won one of three matches on both days one and two.
"Our team was up and down over the first few days, and we underachieved because of that inconsistency," Langley said. "On the third day, the players played to their potential. It was the first time for many of our players to experience a provincial championship tournament. All in all, it was a good way to end the tournament and these were a great bunch of young men to work with."
U18 girls bronze
At the OVA U18 girls championships April 20-21, the Express brought home division two tier one bronze.
St. Thomas defeated Kingston Rock, two games to none, in the bronze medal match.
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