By Larry Moko
The Bishop Tonnos Titans will be vying for their first senior boys' volleyball championship in the school's 20-year history on Thursday.
While the junior team at Tonnos has captured the last three consecutive Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic titles, the banner space allotted for senior success on BT's gym wall remains bare.
That could change this week, though, when the Titans host the ACMT Jaguars in the league final.
Semifinals Tuesday saw the first-place Titans defeat the fourth-place St. Mary Crusaders, 3-1, and the second-place Jaguars blank the third-place St. Jean de Brebeuf Braves, 3-0.
Tonnos won 11 of its 14 matches during the regular schedule, but two of those losses were against the defending champions from ACMT.
"We sure hope so," coach Lisa Pauletto said when asked if Tonnos can finally get over the hump in 2025.
"If it's going to happen it's going to be this year," she added. "We talked about it when we got together at our first tryout practice. I said we're here to have fun but we're also here to win this year. That was the goal from the start."
Tonnos topped St. Mary by set scores of 25-19, 27-25, 23-25, 25-22.
Leading all point-getters was left side Andy Lock of the Titans. "He's our go-to hitter ... almost an automatic point every time," Pauletto said. "He works really hard and is a great player.
Lock, at 6-foot-4, also plays for the Mountain Athletic Club.
"This was definitely a fun match," he said. "I like good competition and it wasn't an easy clean sweep like some of our games have been this year.
"We struggled a bit at times today, but I think we handled it pretty well."
Crusaders coach Paul Augustin pointed out that Lock is a smart player, effective at hitting the ball down the line or cross court.
"Their left side is incredible ," Augustin said. "He's a powerhouse and they go to him a lot. We tried to adapt to shut him down as much as possible."
Tonnos was also strong at the net and some of their other key players included Luka Pasalic, Salman Alakoozi, Matthew Kolodziej and Alesandro Pauletto.
Said Lock: "We don't have a lot of volleyball players. But for a group of guys and basketball athletes, I think we're doing very well."
St. Mary's lineup also featured a dynamic left side -- Karsen Drew. He was the team's kill leader and he spearheaded a fourth-set comeback (from 20-11 to 23-22) by adjusting his serves.
"I spoke to him about that," Augustin said. "Karsen gets up there and absolutely hammers the ball. But when the serves started going out and his hits started going up, I told him accuracy over power."
Augustin arrived at St. Mary last year after coaching the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals to three consecutive senior championships.
"We have a strong team," Augustin said of the Crusaders. "It's a veteran squad that has matured together."
St. Mary's season will continue Thursday, Nov. 13 when they take on a visiting opponent from Halton in a Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference AA playoff.
Recent Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic quarter-final scores were: St. Mary 3 Newman 1; Tonnos 3 Cathedral 0; ACMT 3 More 0; Brébeuf 3 Bishop Ryan 1.
Photos by R.F. (Bob) Butrym, RFB Sport Photography
More photos on HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page
