The Cambrian Golden Shield women’s volleyball team were looking for a split, at home last week, hoping to propel themselves back into the race for a playoff berth in the tough OCAA West Division.
Unfortunately, back-to-back losses mean coach Dale Beausoleil and company now have some serious work to do to dig themselves out of the 3-8 hole they're in.
The Shield lost a heartbreaker of a matchup to the Mohawk Mountaineers on Friday, beaten 25-27, 25-23, 25-27, 18-25. The tightness of the sets was reflected through the individual stats as well, with no less than eight players bunched between eight and 10 kills for these two teams.
Jessna Marmo (10), Amanda Kuiper (9) and Jasmine Zanussi (8) showed the way for the Mountaineers, while Kailey Bastien topped the charts with nine kills for Cambrian, and Jillian Vallier, Hayley Chisholm, Amanda Kring and Emily Clark all deadlocked at eight.
Bastien and Kuiper both recorded four service aces for their respective squads, as Mohawk improved to 7-4 with their Sudbury sweep. Despite bouncing back nicely with a first set win the next day versus the 10-1 Niagara Knights, the Cambrian women were eventually subdued, dropping a 25-19, 11-25, 18-25, 22-25 decision to the division leaders.
The Golden Shield simply could not contain the Niagara one-two punch of Rachel Rivers (17 kills) and Jordan Koslowski (16), with Kring (10), Chisholm (9) and Vallier (7) doing their very best to keep things close.
Freshman Kendra Muffo handled the duties as setter for all eight sets, with libero responsibilities split between the trio of Kayla Wandziak, Manon Duhaime and Kathryn Webb.
The team will face a virtual “must win” this coming Saturday, battling the 5-6 Sheridan Bruins, before trading volleys with the undefeated perennial powerhouse that are the Humber Hawks on Sunday. They return home on (Friday) January 27th with yet another key game, opposing the Redeemer Royals (4-7).
