Bulldogs take Zone 4 NRHSAA AAA volleyball crown

The Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs swept the Thorold Golden Eagles in the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Zone 4 AAA senior girls volleyball final Wednesday, but it was anything but easy.

Playing in their home gym, the Bulldogs won three close games (25-21, 25-21 and 25-19) to ground the Golden Eagles.

“We played them in a tournament and it was tight so we knew tonight it was going to be a tight game,” Churchill head coach Brent Mergl said. “They are a good team and they work hard.”

With the victory, Churchill remained unbeaten in Zone 4 NRHSAA action this season.

“We are really young,” Mergl said. “We have a Grade 9 and three Grade 10s starting and it has taken a little bit of time to become comfortable with a faster-paced game and being comfortable at the senior level.”

One Grade 10 player who didn’t struggle to get comfortable was 6-foot-2 Jenna Pollock.

“She works really hard and, for a 15-years-old, she has incredible confidence and rarely does she get upset with herself,” Mergl said. “She’s very level-headed and has a great head on her shoulders.”

Mergl loves what Pollock brings to the court.

“She works really hard for her teammates,” he said. “She wants the ball at critical times and she is not scared to make mistakes.”

Those abilities possessed by the Niagara Rapids travel player were likely enhanced last summer when she played with Canada’s 17 and under national squad.

Pollock trained with the team and attended a high performance tournament in Tulsa before being chosen as an alternate for the squad that competed at the world championships.

“It was a great experience,” she said. “I enjoyed the team and all the girls.”

Pollock, who was named to the national under-15 all-star team in 2017, felt the summer aided a lot with her development.

“It helped with my leadership and always staying positive,” she said.

And while she has national team aspirations, she’s proud to play for the Bulldogs at the high school level.

“It’s really important to me because I played with these girls last year and they were so nice to me,” she said. “Being there for them and helping them to achieve their goals is something I am looking forward to.”

Thorold went 3-2 in Zone 4 regular season play and head coach Andrew Robertson was pleased with his team’s performance Wednesday and during the season.

“We’ve played really well throughout the season and we seemed to improve as we went along,” he said. “Every time we play Sir Winston, we are usually pretty close to them when we play our best.

“We are looking forward to hopefully playing them again at SOSSA.”

Robertson feels the biggest stride his team has taken this season is playing better as a team.

“They have been able to jell together and know where everyone else is on the court, but we still have some things to work on,” he said. “We are really close to being there.”

Sir Winston will play at Denis Morris Thursday in the overall Zone 4 final and if the Bulldogs win, Thorold can challenge DM for the second SOSSA berth. Churchill is hosting SOSSA Monday.

Churchill lost last year to Westdale at the SOSSA level and the school is looking for its first appearance at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ championships since 2014.

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