The Parkdale Collegiate girls volleyball team has booked a plane trip to Thunder Bay after winning the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) 1 / 2A volleyball championship Friday, Feb. 20 at Centennial College.
The Panthers, who swept North York’s C.W. Jefferys Collegiate 3-0 in the best-of-five final, will compete in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA) championship, at the 2A level, March 3 to 5.
The Panthers’ title win capped off a three-match winning streak in the city playdowns, winning their best-of-five semifinal 3-0 over Scarborough’s Stephen Leacock Collegiate and their best-of-three quarterfinal 2-0 over North York’s John Polanyi Collegiate.
In their south/west division Parkdale finished the regular season with a sparkling 9-1 record, their only loss to Humberside Collegiate.
"We faced them again in the finals of the Monarch Park tournament, and we beat them to win the tournament," said Stewart Clark, who coaches the team along with Sonya Lippold, in an email interview.
Parkdale were then edged 2-1 in their crossover quarter-final playoff game against North Toronto Collegiate of the south/east division.
Clark, who has coached for a decade, termed his team "a once in a career group of girls."
Captain Chime Lhamo, he said, "is a huge leader on the team. She ensures the team communicates and works well together. Without her leadership it would be a very different team."
Lacking in height, the team, to be successful, must compensate with "positional play", he said.
"We are going to play a lot of very strong teams at OFSAA and sticking to our positions and keeping our energy positive is going to be the key to our success.
"Our team communicates exceptionally well, and they are great at covering for one another when the situation calls for it. As long as the girls keep their nerves under control, and their spirit up, I think they will do well."
Follow the team here at www.insidetoronto.com and at www.ofsaa.on.ca/girls-aa-volleyball