PORT HAWKESBURY: The local girls were not going to be denied at their home tournament.
“We played pretty stead and pretty well to beat the teams we beat,” said Dave MacIsaac, coach of the SAERC Saints who won gold at the 2016 Niki King Memorial Volleyball Tournament on October 1.
The event is named in honour of a SAERC Saint who, in her time at the school, did her best to lead all teams she was involved with. Niki’s mother, Fiona Briggs, was on hand to celebrate after the Saturday afternoon win.
SAERC defeated the Northumberland Nighthawks 2-1 (16-25, 25-6, 15-11) for the championship.
MacIsaac said it was great to see competitive, high-level volleyball right at the start of the season. Making sure the effort stays in top gear for the remainder of the season is now the chore.
“They worked hard to get that win, and they have to keep working hard to keep it going,” he said.
Defense and servicing were both very solid, MacIsaac said, and the Saints were great in attack mode too. Everything was very solid, he said.
Meghan MacNeil was a major contributor in the championship match, the coach added.
“She carried the team to the victory,” he said. “We got beat pretty easily in the first match. The momentum swung their way, and we just couldn’t get it back. They just kept taking the game to us. I told them in timeout that we had to find a way to get the momentum back.”
MacNeil served the last 18 points of the second game.
“It was 7-6 when she went back to serve, and it was 25-6 when she was done. You never see that with two evenly-matched teams,” he said.
The third game saw SAERC fall slightly behind, but MacIsaac called time-out at 7-4 and told his players it was time to take the game to their opponents.
“For the most part, we did,” he said. “For the last four or five points of the game, our setters set Meghan and she put the ball on the floor. She was a key cog in the third game too.”
MacNeil was named Tournament MVP for her efforts, and named Tournament All Stars were Marcy MacNeil and Randi Timmons-Harb.
In the semifinals, SAERC defeated the Richmond Hurricane 2-0. Indeed, the Hurricane came inches from taking bronze, an accolade reserved for the St. Mary’s Academy Spartans. The Spartans beat the Hurricane in straight sets.
“Northumberland was a real good team, and so was Richmond Academy,” MacIsaac said. “I suspect between now and the end of the season, there’ll be some pretty good battles between us.”
On the Tier II level, Cabot high school took the championship by dropping the Dalbrae Dragons in straight sets.
Contributed Photo
The SAERC Saints Tier I Volleyball Girls are seen here following their big win at the Niki King Memorial. Pictured are (back, from left) Coach David MacIsaac, Denise Chiasson, Shane Almazon, Mara Probst, Marcy MacNeil, Elizabeth Morgan, Kallie Harb, Cailey Jamieson, Fiona King, Niki Briggs mom; and coach Kelli MacNeil. In front at (from left) Randi Timmons-Harb; Carly Fitzpatrick, Monique Boudreau, and Megan MacNeil.