November 15, 2022 at 6:36 am
St. Peter Canisius’ School in Warwick is celebrating its recent victory in the Year 8 Boys Volleyball Final.
The school beat Gregory Hogan of Sarnia to claim the local Catholic Primary Championship.
Coach Ben Murray said it was a great feeling, especially since most of the team was new to the sport.
“When COVID hit, they were in 5th grade, and before that, maybe one or two of them had played junior high,” Murray said. “So, it was like a whole new sport for them. They really enjoyed it. They watched videos on their own time, and then they rented a gym to play together. They really started loving the game.” , a lot of them probably continued to play the game in high school and maybe even hooked up with Twin Bridges. They loved it, they came together as a team, learned how to play it properly, and now they’re volleyball fans.”
Murray said the team started the season with a 2-4 record and continued to improve during the season.
They entered the playoffs on a 9-0 run and defeated the undefeated Sacred Heart in the semifinals.
“We’re a county school and only 10 kids can actually play, and Gregory Hogan has 600 kids,” he said. “It’s great to see them get something like this. It’s rare for schools in the county to beat those super schools, so it’s really exciting.”
This is the first time the volleyball trophy has been awarded since 2019.
Ben Murray, Bryan Derush, Marco Desantis are the coaches.
The team is: Cooper Arts, Braxton Bryce, Blake Minten, Tanner Wilson, Tyler Van Lieshout, Brant Higgins, Landon Wade, Pim De Rond, Nathan Leyton, Aiden Timmermans