TRURO, N.S. – The Cobequid Cougars girls’ volleyball team continued its winning ways by capturing the Mount Saint Vincent University high school tournament last weekend.
The Cougars defeated Dartmouth 25-15, 25-7 in the final.
CEC finished first in its pool with straight-set wins over Middleton, Northumberland #2, and C.P. Allen, and a three-set win over Halifax West. In a semifinal crossover, the Cougars defeated CEC #2 in straight sets 25-10, 25-22.
Leading the CEC attack was Ellen Lewis with 30 kills and Nicole Rector with 25 kills and only two hitting errors. Maddie MacGregor had the top attack percentage with 18 kills and and only three hitting errors for 53.6 percent, while Shayla Gloade had 21 kills and only one hitting error for a 48.8 per cent attack percentage.
Nicole Rector led the Cougars in serving with 13 aces, 40 successful serves, and five serving errors, while Maddie MacGregor had 10 aces and 47 successful serves and Rebecca Worden added 12 aces and 34 successful serves.
Hannah Crouse was the top serve-receiver for the Cougars with nine perfect passes and a 2.17 serve-receive average. Maddie Greatorex also had nine perfect passes. Crouse also led the team in digs with 18 spike digs and three tip digs, while Greatorex had 16 spike digs and seven tip digs. Laura Hughes McKay had 15 digs and Worden had 14 digs. MacGregor led the team in blocks with 15, followed by Rector with 12. Worden and Mariah Putnam, the CEC setters, ran an efficient and balanced attack for the Cougars.
It was the fifth straight tournament win for the Cougars, who were playing without the services of experienced left-side attacker Abby Bernard, who spent this week rehabing a persistent ankle injury.
The CEC #2 team finished third in the 10-team event with a straight-set win over Halifax West (25-11, 25-23) in the bronze-medal match.
CEC #2 finished second in its pool with straight-set wins over Yarmouth and Millwood, a close three-set win over a strong J.L. Illsley squad, and a straight-set loss to the Dartmouth Spartans. It marked the first time this season CEC #2 won a medal.
Leading the attack for the Cougars was Maddy Ball with 25 kills, followed by Emma Fortunato with 17 and Emma Shive with 15 kills.
Ball also led the way in serving with 15 aces, 40 successful serves, and a 3.18 serving average. Fortunato had six aces, 35 successful serves, and a 3.03 serving average. MacKenzie Matheson came off the bench to provide five aces and 25 successful serves for a 3.00 serving average.
Despite a badly sprained thumb, Caitlin Whooten, the outstanding libero, had 22 perfect passes and a 2.31 serve-receive average, while Ball had 17 perfect passes and a 2.31 serve-receive average. Matheson had 11 perfect passes and a 2.42 average. Whooten had 26 spike digs, followed by Ball with 18 and Erin Reeves with 15.
Both Reeves and Matheson are developing into outstanding backcourt defensive specialists. Fortunato had a strong weekend defending at the net with 25 blocks.
This weekend, both CEC teams will compete in the Saint Mary’s University high school tournament. All the top Nova Scotia teams are entered in the SMU event.
