The Smithville Christian Storm came home with a silver medal for the second straight year from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) A boys volleyball championships.
The Storm dropped a close three-set match 24-26, 20-25, 27-29 to Hamilton District Christian High School in the gold medal game after going undefeated to reach the finals.
“It’s never a disappointment to medal at OFSAA but we felt like this year we could have potentially beat them,” Smithville coach Tim deVries said. “But at the same time, this is their (Hamilton) fourth time in a row. It’s a healthy rivalry between the two Christian schools from SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association) because we meet each other all the time.”
DeVries has been coaching for more than two decades and now has two silver, two gold and four bronze to his credit.
“I knew this team could do it, just like last year’s. We did beat Hamilton at a tournament so we felt like we could beat them,” he said. “It’s just the guys buying into the fact that, yeah, you guys can win this.”
DeVries said Smithville and Hamilton District have mutual respect for each other.
“It’s always a very good, respectable,” he said. “We’ve beaten them — last four years we haven’t — but in the past we used to beat them. So it’s always kind of been back and forth. The last four years they’ve had a bit of a juggernaut, but it’s always a very healthy, respectful rivalry. It’s not a heated rivalry by any means.”
The Storm, who won gold in 2019, have met Hamilton Christian three times in the OFSAA finals.
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