The Northumberland Breakers 18U Boys team recently completed the indoor tour of 4 tournaments with a Gold Medal win in the Ken Davies Cup held in Brantford Saturday Feb. 28th. The win capped an up and down season for the boys as they managed through injuries and limited rosters for each tournament.

In the latest tournament the boys were missing two of their key starters (Anthony Galonski (setter/power hitter) and Max Dickenson (libero)) but were able to bolster the ranks with 16U call-ups Jared Bihun (libero) and Tyler Scheerhorn (middle).  The team played a strong first match working to adjust to the new line-up and stretching out from the long early morning drive, but lost both sets to the Ottawa Desperados (21-25, 23-25).  However, those were the only sets that they lost that day.  In their second match they met a strong Aurora Storm team, which fell to the Breakers in two straight (25-23, 25-23).  Breakers jumped out to a 6 point lead in the first set but the Storm came back to narrow that to 1 or 2 points throughout the set.  The set was marked by long exciting rallies with some fantastic defensive digs by Callum Mireault (power hitter/setter), blocks by Ryan Elliot (middle) and kills by Jacob Deviney (power hitter).  In the second set of the match the Breakers garnered a lead late in the set with Storm almost succeeding in coming back, but eventually lost to the Breakers by 2 points.

The Breakers advanced to the quarter-finals having finished 2nd in their pool, to meet up with the host Brantford Tornados. The Breakers pulled out to an early lead with Blake Alexander (right side hitter) getting into the game with some key hits and Jared Bihun (libero) providing defensive backup.  The Tornados didn’t give up easily though, coming back several times to keep the games close.  However, the Breakers proved to have too many answers to their attacks and finished the match defeating the Tornados in straight sets (25-20, 25-20).  The Breakers advanced to the semi-final match which saw them face-off against the Windsor Riverside team.  The Riverside team having finished 1st in their pool play came up against the Breakers and went down to defeat 25-20, 25-22.  Although dropping some points at times in each of the two sets, the Breakers continued to play solid volleyball to come up with the wins to guarantee a medal.

Advancing into the Gold Medal match, the Breakers again confronted the Aurora Storm team.  The Storm, having lost earlier to the Breakers, were out to secure a win and the Gold.  However, through some key blocks and hits by middle Tyler Scheerhorn and right side attacker Jeremy Hoekstra, the Breakers continued to score critical points to keep the Storm at bay.  Throughout the tournament setter Brandon Jilesen had kept the other teams guessing with his playmaking and topped it off with some key tips to keep the Breakers in the lead.  The first set went to the Breakers in a back and forth 25-20 win.   The Breakers followed this up with a strong showing securing the Gold medal with a 25-14 win in the second set. Coaches Marc Mireault and Matt Brady were pleased with the win, and felt that the boys demonstrated great volleyball skills and some good mental toughness to finish with no losses after the initial two in the tournament.

The Gold medal in the Ken Davies Championship tier caps off a regular indoor season for the Breakers, and adds to their existing Bronze medal from the McGregor Cup tournament held earlier in the season.  This provides them with some good momentum as they ready for the Provincial Championships to be held in Waterloo April 11-13.