Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Sports
A 25-23 loss in the opening set to the visiting Granite Ridge Gryphons was just the wake up call the NDSS Golden Hawks senior boys volleyball team needed, as they stormed back to win the next three sets in Thursday’s KASSAA league game.
Rather than dwell on the close loss, the Hawks responded in the second by jumping out to a 12-6 lead and then closed it out with authority, winning 25-12 to even the game at one set each. Kaden Fredenburgh’s serves proved to be too much for the Gryphons, helping the Hawks go on a four point run.
In the third the Hawks kept rolling, posting a 25-15 win on the strength of aces from Will Hart. They sealed the win with a 25-17 win in the fourth set.
The win was their second straight and evened the Hawks’ record at 2-2 on the year.
“These boys have a ton of potential, I wish we could dig into it and allow them to believe they’ve got that ability to be successful,” Hawks coach Jill Ardern said of the team. “We had a great game from Will Hart, that was probably his most consistent game of the season. We had really good serving and solid hitting all the way through. He was one of the main reasons the boys were successful.”
Ardern says a lack of focus at times allowed the Gryphons to climb back into it before the Hawks were able to put away the game. She says that’s been a recurring problem for the club and has cost the young team at times.
“Andrew Hudgins had another great offensive night,” said Ardern. “He’s been having trouble adjusting to the two different types of setters that we’ve got but he’s coming around. They’re a young team, the majority of kids are in Grade 11. I see it as a building year and I think next year we’ve got some really good potential.”
After struggling out of the gate and not winning a set in their first two games, the Hawks have looked better over their previous two meetings.
“They started off with a couple of really tough teams and competed with them,” said Ardern. “I hope that brought a little bit of confidence.”
NDSS’ junior boys volleyball team meanwhile continued their hot streak, defeating Granite Ridge in the late game to move to 5-0 on the year. Along with the Regi Panthers they remain the only team in KASSAA’s junior division.
The both NDSS’ juniors and seniors will host the KCVI Blues Thursday afternoon at 3:45 p.m.
On the gridiron the NDSS junior team dropped to 0-2 on the year with a 40-14 loss on the road against Frontenac. Matt Ruttan and Cameron Brown each scored a touchdown for the navy blue and gold.
NDSS’ football team travelled to Ernestown yesterday afternoon for a showdown with the cross-county rival Eagles. Results weren’t known at press time. As for the senior squad, they officially folded for the year, citing a lack of interest among the students. They lost their lone game of the season 21-10 to Sydenham on Sept. 29.
In basketball the junior girls were at Granite Ridge on Thursday, earning a 45-29 victory to improve to 3-2 on the year, good for fourth place. They travel to KCVI this afternoon.