Team New Brunswick snags first-ever volleyball medal at Canada Games
Province fought back after tough second set to defeat Team Ontario 15-13
New Brunswick's indoor women's volleyball team recovered after a tough second set to upset Ontario 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 25-14, 19-25, 15-13), snagging the province's first-ever medal in women's indoor volleyball on Saturday at the Canada Games.
The bronze is a major coup for the team, according to Volleyball New Brunswick grassroots co-ordinator Paige Paulsen.
"It's the first medal that any New Brunswick team has brought back for volleyball, and it's the first medal since 1985 that any team from Atlantic Canada has brought back," said Paulsen.
She attributes that success to an early start by head coach Monette Boudreau-Carrol, assistant coaches Mike Roy and Lauren Hale, and team manager Tim Cormier.
"The head coach had a solid plan of what it was going to look like," said Paulsen. "It was a really great group of girls, so it really worked out in the end."
'Excellent game'
On Saturday at the Games, the women's indoor volleyball team got off to a strong start, winning the first set 25 to 14.
They lost the second set but fought back in the third and fourth sets "with a lot of hard attacking, a lot of big blocking, and lots of defence," said Paulsen. "It was an excellent game to watch, really back and forth."
"We had one athlete go back to serve when it was 14-13 for us, and she ended up getting the ace, and that was the game point."
Volleyball NB executive director Mark White said the success of this year's team is due to a "great combination of size and skill that allowed us to compete with the bigger provinces, and Monette's leadership."
"The team chemistry is really strong and that goes a long way."
New Brunswick earned 24 medals in total at the 2017 Canada Games in Winnipeg, breaking the team's 1995 record of 21 medals.