Cyclone capture Zone 3 volleyball title
Mila Burattini is one of the centrepieces of the E.L. Crossley Cyclone senior girls volleyball team.
The 16-year-old, Grade 11 student is not only one of the most impressive players on the court, but is also a leader and a top notch student.
“Oh, Mila. She’s wonderful,” Crossley coach Michelle Gibson said after the Cyclone topped the Westlane Warriors 25-15, 25-10, 25-10 to capture the Niagraa Region High School Athletic Association Zone 3 championship Thursday. “She’s just an all around great student-athlete and leader on and off the court.
“She’s a great representative of what it means to be a Crossley Cyclone.”
Gibson appreciates Burattini’s selflessness.
“She’s really been instrumental in helping some of the new girls develop, right back to teaching basic footwork and strategy,” Gibson said. “She’s been taking the time to do that which is nice for us so we can focus on some of the other players.”
Burattini loves her role.
“With this group of girls it was easy because they have such great attitudes,” she said.
The erratic schedule does pose a problem, Burattini admitted.
“Honestly, it’s kind of a challenge because there are a lot of inconsistencies with our season. We stop and start, stop and start with exams and Christmas. It was kind of tough to get momentum.”
The Cyclone finished with a perfect 6-0 mark in the regular season before disposing of the Spartans in less than an hour.
“It’s been a good year,” Gibson said.
Burattini pointed to chemistry as a big factor in the team’s success — something co-coach and chemistry teacher Jessica Kropac no doubt appreciates.
“We have the most amazing girls in the group,” Burattini said. “We put skill aside and we really just focus on meshing together as a team. You can’t have two star players and the rest not too great. We work well together and our practices are really inclusive. We try to work on everything we’re not so great at.
“Chemistry is so important. If you have one person going the opposite way it can affect the whole team. One attitude can change the entire outlook of the season.”
Burattini played club volleyball for five years with the Niagara Rapids before taking a break to concentrate on her studies this year.
“I’m taking hard courses and want to focus on school,” she said. “My goals are to play post secondary.”
Burattini is well aware of the effort required to be a student-athlete at the next level.
“It’s a lot of balance for sure. I’ve been balancing things all my life. I play soccer as well and school volleyball, badminton and tennis. I’m really good at balancing things so I think I’ll be able to work around that.”
The Cyclone now advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Associations (SOSSA) AA playoffs next Friday at Holy Cross.
“In volleyball anything can happen so we’re preparing the best we can,” Gibson said. “We (coaches) do bring some experience and we have some experienced players and we also have some rookies. It’s kind of a balance this season of developing some players and also pushing the ones who have played to get even better.”
Members of the winning squad are: Burattini, Claire Anderson, Marissa Buchan, Myah Dellemonache, Ella Dixon, Cherith Dunn, Hillary Haining, Regan Hildebrandt, Kali Hill, Olivia Jones, Helena Siolkowski, Amelia Siolkowski, Ava Young.
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