Believe it Orr not, Irish top Thunder
Heading into the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association AAA championship volleyball game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Blessed Trinity Thunder knew they had to do everything they could to stop Cassie Orr, but at the end of the day, it didn’t matter.
Orr, the Irish left-side hitter, was almost unstoppable leading her team to a three-set sweep of the Thunder, outscoring the visitors from Grimsby 25-20, 25-13, 25-16.
“She’s a great athlete and a great volleyball player,” Irish coach James Ortiz, who coaches alongside Shannon Letwin, said. “Her leadership has really stood out this season, working with the younger girls. We have a couple of grade 10s on the team and she’s been great mentoring them. She had a great game today.”
Thunder coach Steven Johnston didn’t disagree with Oritz’s sentiments.
“Everything that went to her (Orr) she knew how to pick the spots,” Johnston said. “She knew how to find where we weren’t. She had some hard swings and some good tips. We tried to cover and we tried to get some blocks and she just had our number.”
Heading into the AAA final, Orr was well aware that Blessed Trinity would not be a walkover. In their regular season match-up, the Thunder took a set off of the Irish in a four-set loss.
“In the first match, they kind of stunned us by winning that first game,” Orr said. “So today, our setter (Aurora Grenier) had really never set before this year, she really stepped up. She was able to get in the middle and set nice and high to the left side.”
“Cassie really stepped up today,” Ortiz said. “I think that she had more than 20 kills, her passing was great and she and Aurora were a great duo. They work really well together.”
Coach Ortiz admitted that he had his team more prepared for the rematch with the Thunder.
“We spent a little more time in the gym just figuring out the stuff that we didn’t have figured out last time,” he said. “The girls really worked on tips, hitting and picking our spots better. We also worked on serving a little bit smarter — all of the things that go into winning a volleyball match.”
Although Notre Dame swept the match, it was not for the lack of effort and talent from Thunder power hitter Simona Boettger.
“Simona is a champ, she does everything she can to find holes and really push the wheel,” Johnston said. “They made it tough on her and I think we have got stuck a little trying to look for her too much. It’s hard when they know where the ball is going to go.”
As the Irish head into the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) tournament as the Zone 2 representative, Orr is aware that her team needs to keep getting stronger.
“We have to practise covering better,” she said. “It’s all the little things we need to clean up. I would say the main things like defence, attacking, serving, we’re good. It’s the little things that get us into ruts.”
Members of the Irish include: Orr, Grenier, Mya Brown, Kayla Garner, Avah Thompson, Nya Nyapuok, Leah Orr and Katelyn Wills.
Cat’s Caboose Player of the Game: Cassie Orr
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