Junior Rams tame the Bulldogs' bite

     St. Joe's advances to the District junior boys' volleyball final

     Wednesday, November 8, 2017

By Rob J. Ross

ST. THOMAS - After shaking off some rust, the St. Joseph's Rams showed why they finished first overall.

The Rams advanced to the London District junior boys' volleyball final, caging the London St. Andre Bessette Bulldogs, by winning their semi-final three games to one, at St. Joseph's high school.

St. Joe's dropped game one, 25-16, but thundered back with three consecutive victories, 25-17, 25-16, 25-22.

"Resiliency. We didn't give up. The boys have a lot of confidence. After the first set, we knew we could come back. We had an awful first set," said Rams co-coach Kent Cherevaty, who shares bench duties with Mike Waterhouse.

"We pushed up our defence. We got the guys thinking about net play a little more. We got serves in and we didn’t do that in the first set. We started hitting the ball and you’re not going to win if you’re not hitting the ball."

Game four was a back and forth affair with a higher then usual volume of calls made along the lines, being overturned by the head official.  

"We didn't show any quit. We just kept pushing," Rams captain Ryan Bonter said. "We all work together and have good team-work."

The Rams, the top team during the District regular season, with a 10-1 match record (32-10 in games), now move on to the District final, to face the Woodstock St. Mary's Warriors (9-2) Friday, at St. Mary's Catholic high school.  Game time is 6 p.m.

St. Joe's suffered their lone regular season loss to St. Mary's, three games to two.

The District winner advances to the WOSSAA tournament, Thursday, November 16, at South secondary school, in London.

"Our goal is to get to WOSSAA," said Bonter. "We'll have to stay focused and keep doing what we're doing."