It took the province’s very best – be it in prediction or performance – to finally derail Bishop Reding.
Seeded third at the OFSAA AAA championships after an unbeaten regular season and playoff run, the Royals pushed the eventual three-time champion Uxbridge Tigers to the absolute limit in semifinal play Saturday.
Rallying from a pair of one-set deficits to force the tiebreaker, Reding jumped out to a 4-1 lead and had match point five times before being heartbreakingly outlasted 21-19.
“That was likely the match of the tournament and our longest of the year,” said head coach Dan Byckalo, of the gruelling two-and-a-half-hour marathon. “We just couldn’t get it done. Our entire lineup played fantastic.”
Captain Kyle Malchenko led a talent-laden team – with three provincial players and five others at the club ranks – with exceptional setting and play-making.
Connor Gunn, Jonah Dolhum, Cameron Hedderson, Adullah Mostafa, Nithan Prakash, Nathaniel Rous, Nicolas Gomez and national-level right-side hitter Will Clarmo were in top-notch form to collectively bring Reding to the threshold of OFSAA supremacy.
Byckalo admits it was a “tough mental challenge” refocusing for the bronze medal game just two hours later against top-seeded Franco-Cite of Sturgeon Falls.
Despite a strong effort, the Royals couldn’t withstand their northern opponent’s fierce serving and overall attack – losing 3-0 (18-25, 21-25, 20-25).
With their fourth-place finish, Reding came away as the antique bronze medalists. It was the school's best-ever showing in OFSAA volleyball (boys or girls).
The GHAC winners and four-time Halton Catholic champs swept pool play and downed Thornhill’s Hodan Nalayeh 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-19) in the quarterfinals.
Reaching the final four, said Byckalo, was about “trusting one another and digging deep in tough situations.”
Uxbridge pulled off their three-peat with a five-set victory over host Kingston.
The Royals’ continued Halton dominance looks promising, as they’ll have four starters back next fall, plus four other returnees and newcomers from a junior team that’s won five of the last league titles.
Making up the rest of this year's squad were Adrian Skopek, Jack Hartman, Isaiah Kim, Adam Bertovic, Nicholas Taglieri, Caden Vijaysingham. Dexter Lewandowski, manager/practice player Trey Jubert and assistant coaches Mrs Johnston and Miss Herter.