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Rams head to OFSAA boys volleyball
Drop WOSSAA AA final to OFSAA host St. Mike's Warriors
November 17, 2023
By Rob J. Ross
STRATFORD, Ont. - The St. Joseph's Rams are heading to OFSAA double-A volleyball.
"The boys are pretty excited," Rams coach Ryan Santos said. "We have beat some great teams this year and when we are on our game, we can be pretty unstoppable."
The WOSSAA gold medal match was not one of those games however.
St. Mike's Warriors, the OFSAA double-A host, won WOSSAA gold, winning in three straight games, November 16 at St. Mike's.
"A tough go," Santos said. "A few banged up players, and just not our best game."
St. Joe's advanced to the final, taking best of five matches from London Oakridge and Ingersoll on Wednesday.
"Day one WOSSAA the boys showed a lot of composure and grit," Santos said. "Most of the sets against Oakridge we fell down early and clawed our way back. The work ethic we put in and the never give up attitude lead to success in that match."
The Rams opened the four team tournament downing Oakridge, 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22.
In a rematch of the TVRA South-East AA final against Ingersoll (IDCI), the Rams dropped the first two games, 25-19, 25-20, before reeling off three straight wins, 25-14, 25-17, 15-9.
"Against IDCI a few of our leaders took control after the second set," Santos said. "Kyle (McIntee) and Michael (Paul) both spoke up in the huddle and motivated the guys. They then began to dominate on the court and this spread to their teammates. A switch was flipped and a completely different team came out for the third, fourth and fifth set."
OFSAA is November 23-25, at St. Mike's.
"We're team that is incredible to watch and provides extremely exciting volleyball for myself as a coach and the fans," Santos said. "When the team gets going and the energy is there, not many teams can keep up."
The Rams finished tied for second place in the TVRA South-East division at 7-1. St. Joe's took care of city rivals Parkside in three games in the quarterfinals, before edging out Woodstock St. Mary's, three games to two.
St. Joe's also won a pair of tournaments during the season.
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