‘It’s been too long’: Six London-area teams qualify for OFSAA, one more to be decided

The Parkside Collegiate Institute Stampeders girl’s volleyball team is going to OFSAA for the first time since 2001. (Brent Lale/CTV London)

Six teams from London and St. Thomas have booked their tickets to compete at the Ontario high school championships in March.

At Parkside Collegiate, the Stampeders girl’s volleyball team swept Stratford St. Mike’s 3-0 to win WOSSAA qualify for OFSAA for the first time since 2001.

“It’s been it’s been too long for Parkside volleyball,” said Chris Palmer, the Stampeders’ head coach.

“We’ve had a lot of really close to the finals in the past, both in boys and girls, so it’s awesome with this group of girls to make it finally.”

The Stampeders were in tough in the opening game of the set but pulled it off 25-23, and after that they settled in and the victory was never in doubt.

“We’ve been waiting for this for so long and it’s my first time going to OFSAA, you could tell in our eyes we wanted it,” said star power hitter Blaire Dawdy who is headed to Niagara College next season.

“I’m so glad I’m not leaving in tears after this game, I’m so happy.”

With a few graduating seniors, and grade 11s who have rallied around them, they reach the provincials (in Cambridge) for just the third time in 30 years. The other two appearances resulted in medals in 1996 and 2001.

In ‘A’ girls volleyball, St Mary’s DCVI defeated London District Christian High School in a thrilling five-set match winning 16-14 in the final frame to book a ticket to North Bay.

The AAA final will be played at Oakridge Secondary School Monday after being rescheduled.

The games were originally to be played last Wednesday, however a bomb threat closed the school forcing the matches to be rescheduled to Monday.

On the hardwood, the Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School Spartans (MTS) are expected to be a top seed at OFSAA after winning the AAA title 71-64 over Saunders in their home gym.

The Spartans were silver medallists a year ago and with their players having another year of experience, combined with the tournament being played in London, it is expected they’ll be one of the favourites for the event March 9 to 11.

With MTS hosting, WOSSAA gets two berths, so the Saunders Sabres will also get a spot and will be a contender.

“I think Saunders is on the verge as well,” said Kwame Aidoo, Spartans head coach and OFSAA host convenor.

“I think if things shape up and our boys play well; we should be hopefully in the medal games.”

The St. Joseph’s Rams out of St. Thomas beat Regina Mundi 85-77 in overtime in Listowel to win the AA championship.

Heading into overtime, the Rams switched to a zone defence and outscored the Titans 12-4 to win and advance to the tournament in Pembroke.

“They were more athletic than us, but I think our guys were a little more structured,” said Rams head coach Troy Rick.

“If we can get a top six seed (at OFSAA), I think we can do some damage. We beat a lot of AAA teams this year and we only lost to Mother Teresa by five (in a tournament) and they won AAA so if we can get a decent seed, we can cause some havoc. We don’t look like a team that is going to do well, and the boys just play smart, structured and we are a little more athletic than people give us credit for.”

In the ‘A’ boys tournament, École Secondaire Gabriel-Dumont out of London beat Goderich 67-59 to win and advance to the championship in Timmins.