Sports

ODSS senior girls volleyball team win CWOSSA compete at OFSAA

April 2, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Orangeville District Secondary School Scarlett Bears senior girls volleyball team has completed a stellar season that saw them win the District 4 championship, place at the regional CWOSSA tournament, and compete at the provincial OFSAA championships.

During the regular season, the Bears finished 2nd in District 4 with 11 wins in 14 matches.

In the District playoffs, the Bears eliminated St. James in the quarter-finals and knocked out Centre Wellington in the semi-final round on Feb. 20, to earn the right to go to the District Championship.

The Bears claimed the District 4 championship with a 3-2 match win over Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School from Guelph on Feb. 23.

The win at the District level gave the team an opportunity to compete at the regional level in the AAA Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association (CWOSSA) competition, held at RIM Park in Waterloo on Feb. 27.

The Bears played well in their pool and advanced to the semi-final round. They won the semi-final 25-21, 14-25, 15-10, to advance to the championship match.

The final match was a best-of-five series against Waterloo Collegiate Institute.

The ODSS girls won the first two sets 27-25, 28-26. Waterloo fought back and won two sets, 23-25, 13-25. This set the entire match to a 15-point final.

The Bears came out on top with a 15-13 win to claim the 2026 CWOSSA title. This was the first time an ODSS girls’ volleyball team had won CWOSSA in 33 years, and the first time as an AAA school.

“In the league standings, we finished second behind Bishop Macdonell, but then we beat them in the finals to win the District,” explained Erin Downey, who, along with Megan Rook, coached the ODSS team to victory this year.

“Once you take it up to that next level, you’re up against the best teams in Central West Ontario. It was really awesome to make it to that level. Our goal at CWOSSA was to make it out of pool play and be one of the four top teams. We had to win at least one game in pool play and be able to play in a semi-final game. We finished second in our pool, and we had to cross over and play the first-place team in the other pool. A lot of people said the other team was the best team in the tournament. We won the semi-final, then we had to play the team that beat us in pool play. They beat us earlier that day, and we had to beat them in the final. We won the first two sets, then lost the second two.”

The team had a setback when one of their best players was injured and had to leave the game.

“It was quite emotional,” Downey said. “We said, ‘we’ve got to re-group.’ The fifth set went to 15. It was 6:00 p.m., and we had been at the gym since seven o’clock in the morning. At the end of the day, the play was so tight – it was the team that played the smartest and had the most heart that came out on top at the end. The girls were emotionally drained and physically drained, but so excited at the same time.”

At the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSSA) event,  the ODSS team faced a whole new level of competition. The top 16 senior girls’ teams in Ontario arrived in Windsor from March 9 to 11 to determine this year’s provincial champions.

“A lot of the teams that go to OFSAA have an entire roster of club players,” Downey explained. “Three of our players play outside of school and the rest of our team are girls who play volleyball at school. Some had very little experience, and others played junior and elementary volleyball. The really neat thing about our team is that we had a few girls who had experience, and they took the rest of the team under their wing to help guide and teach them.”

The Bears’ senior team played well at OFSAA but did not qualify for the medal round.

The ODSS senior girls’ volleyball team had an outstanding season, and they should be proud of all they accomplished this year.

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