The season concluded last week for the North Star Wolves senior and junior volleyball teams, to the same teams on the same night.
The Wolves went up against their counterparts from Essex last Tuesday night at Essex District High School in the WECSSAA “AA” quarterfinals at both age levels. The evening started with the junior game and finished with the senior game, with the Red Raiders beating the Wolves in both.
The senior Wolves had an 8-1 record in WECSSAA Tier 2 play but Essex went 10-0 in Tier 1. The Wolves played the Red Raiders close in the first two sets but Essex ended up winning 25-20 and 25-22.
The Red Raiders got rolling in the third set and clinched the best-of-five match with a 25-12 victory.
Despite the loss, North Star players were pleased with how they played against the strong Essex team.
“I think it’s probably the best game we’ve played all year,” said North Star’s Jaden Taba. “We worked our butts off. Essex is a good team but we’re a good team too.”
The Wolves’ hitting and serving was strong against the Red Raiders, Taba added, but they were getting tired by the third set. Fatigue was something they need to get better at managing, he added.
The senior boys got better as the year went on, said Taba.
“I think we progressed exponentially and got a lot better,” he stated. “I think we made a big improvement.”
Teammate Jack Prieur also was happy with how the Wolves played, despite the three-set loss. Prieur said the team improved since the start of the season and “we played our best game all year” against the Red Raiders.
“We made them beat us. We didn’t beat ourselves,” said Prieur. “The boys played well. We gave (Essex) a heck of a game.”
Essex would go on to win the WECSSAA “AA” senior boys volleyball championship, with the finals being Sunday night. They beat Erie Migration in three straight sets.
The junior game preceded the senior game with Essex winning that in four sets. North Star won the first set 25-21 but Essex won the next three by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-22 to advance. Essex lost in the junior finals to Riverside.
Essex eliminates Wolves from senior and junior volleyball playoffs
By Ron Giofu
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