The William D. Cuts Crusaders went the distance to knock off the team to beat in the SAPEC boys’ volleyball final.
Thursday’s showdown against the undefeated Sir George Simpson Voyageurs brought out the best in Cuts and they went on to win 15-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12 at Bellerose Composite High School.
“It was a really good match. They played hard. We played hard. It all came down to who wanted it more,” said Nick Cowan, a hard-hitting Grade 9 Cuts middle.
Cuts played the underdog role to perfection in the biggest game of the year.
“It’s amazing what we did,” Cowan said. “They didn’t know what it’s like to lose a game so once we started pounding on them we got their hopes down and came out on top.”
The fifth and deciding set was a barnburner. Led by Cowan’s aggressive play at the net and strong serving by captain Eric Boychuk, Cuts rattled off seven points to start the scoring. Simpson replied with eight in a row before the teams switched sides. Noah Cunningham and captain Sam Forster spearheaded the hitting attack in support of Kevin Tremblay’s serving.
Simpson added two more before Cuts scored twice to trail by one. Big swings by Forster maintained Simpson’s lead until Cuts exploded for five straight to end the match. After an unreturnable serve by Ben Hoffman put Cuts back on top at 13-12, two giant blocks by Boychuk ended the suspense.
“What he did was huge, just spectacular,” Cowan said.
The five-foot-seven Boychuk rose to the challenge with a championship on the line.
“I did what my coaches told me to do and that was wait for them to get up to hit and then jump up,” said the Grade 9 setter.
Cuts showed remarkable resilience after dropping the opening set. A strong finish in the second set got the green team back on track.
“We just kept our spirits up after getting the butterflies out of our stomach,” Cowan said.
Cuts never lost its will to win against a very strong and talented Simpson line-up that won 10 in a row going into the final. Cowan, the tallest player on the floor at six-foot-three, and Hoffman’s presence at power were major contributors in the team’s success.
“It started out tough for us. They beat us in the first one but then we got our confidence up and took them out in the second and then it was back and forth from there,” Boychuk said. “It was pretty nerve racking. There was a lot of noise. We just kept our heads in it and tried to do our best.”
Cuts finished 9-2 overall as the second-ranked team in the playoffs.
The city championship by the Cuts boys was their first since 2004 and the eighth in school history.
“It feels real good deep down inside to do it for our school,” Cowan said. “It means a lot, especially since the girls ended up losing their final [to the Lorne Akins Gators in five sets]. We thought we should win it for them, too.”
