Bulldogs pass competition on way to OFSAA
After winning their fifth straight Zone 4 AAA senior boys volleyball crown, Sir Winston Churchill head coach Brent Mergl said his team’s plan was working to perfection.
“The plan was to win SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship) and get another crack at heading to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championship),” Mergl said Wednesday.
The Bulldogs, who punched their ticket to OFSAA in Windsor by defeating Ancaster 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 24-26 and 25-16) in the SOSSA finals, got stronger as the season went along.
“I knew we had to be a really good passing team so that it made it easier on our setter to make good sets and to be able to run a multitude of hitters,” Mergl said. “We couldn’t rely on one person.
“We were never a one-person show last year, but everyone thought we were.”
Winning with one person doesn’t work in volleyball.
“Once that one person is in the back row, they are no good to you,” he said. “We had to become a better passing team because we lost Alex’s (Mrkalj) passing and the passing of two other guys.
“Not only did we lose starters, we lost great passing.”
Mergl focused on replacing those losses.
“I knew we were going to struggle there so the whole plan all year was to spent a lot of time at practice passing.”
The practice paid off as the Bulldogs went a perfect 7-0 in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association league play, including a victory over AA powerhouse Eden.
Churchill then swept Thorold 3-0 to win the NRHSAA Zone 4 AAA title and then defeated Blessed Trinity 3-0 to win the overall Zone 4 crown.
Including tournaments, the Bulldogs had an excellent record of 36-4.
Last year’s team was also an excellent passing squad and the result was a SOSSA title and a silver medal at the OFSAA championships. Mergl feels this year’s squad is stronger in the middle.
“Our strength is in the middle with our two middles and we are really really good on left side and on right side,” he said. “When we pass well, we are a tough team to defend because have so much more hitting depth.”
The Bulldogs are seeded fifth at OFSAA and are in a pool with the second, 12th, 15th and 18th seeds. They will be unable to surprise anyone considering they are the reigning silver medalists.
“We can’t walk in as the sleeper any more,” Mergl said. “You can kind of get by for a little bit but not now. We have high expectations for ourselves but you never know.
“You need a little bit of luck, you have to play well and things have to work out your way.”
Thankfully, the Bulldogs received a high enough seed that they were scheduled for three round-robin matches on Thursday and only one on Friday before the quarter-finals start.
“The lower seeded teams have to play two matches on Friday and then play in the quarters,” Mergl said, “It’s a bit of a longer day so you just have to be resilient.”
The OFSAA tournament is a grind and the key for Churchill will be to continue to pass well and avoid long rallies.
“We are not super deep on the bench and we really only play eight guys,” Mergl said. “We have played the same eight all the way through the season so hopefully their conditioning is up to par.”
The goal for Churchill is to place in the top two in its pool and advance to the quarter-finals.
“It’s a tournament weekend and in a tournament weekend, anything can happen,” Mergl said. “In a best of seven like hockey, usually the best team wins. But in one match, anything can happen.”
Members of the team are Spencer Gregson, Ryan Daniel, Randy Phelan, Patrick Hassan, Dylan Vanleeuwen, Nathan Butler, Alexander Wang, Hawkin Paleczny, Andrew Song, Matthew Jeffery, Yazeed Alzughaibi, Noah Garnace, Jacob Cielen-Gough, Jaydon Hoadley and Griffin Whitehorne.
Rounding out the coaching staff are assistants Tammy Short and Garrett Goodbrand.
