The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) championship round concluded on Monday at the Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium.

On the day, the juniors division wrapped up their championship series with the HO Nash Lions’ girls and DW Davis Royals’ boys taking home the championship hardware for their respective schools.

Meanwhile, the CR Walker Knights’ senior girls and C I Gibson Rattlers’ senior boys took care of business in their series en route to a GSSSA championship win.

The championship rounds were nothing short of competitive as three of the four series once again went to three sets.

In senior action, the Rattlers defeated the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins after three sets of volleyball play on Monday. The team came up short in set one, falling to the Mystic Marlins 19-25. However, the senior team regained their footing in set two, earning a 25-20 victory to even the sets. In the final set, the Rattlers wrapped things up 15-7 to close out the Mystic Marlins and claim the GSSSA senior boys volleyball championship. The championship series’ Most Valuable Player (MVP) award went to James Delia who notched big plays all series for the victors.

The Knights bumped out the CV Bethel Stingrays in the only game of the day that went to two sets. The newly-crowned champs came into game two confident after a hard-fought win in game one last week Friday. The first-seeded team immediately picked up where they left off and nabbed set one 25-19. With the Stingrays reeling from set one, the Knights delivered the final blow to take down the third-seeded team 25-18 sealing their championship win.

The championship run was fuelled by brilliant game one and two performances by the team’s power Vanessa Scott. The young athlete took home MVP honours to cap off a championship victory in her final year of high school.

Junior division

The sweeps continued throughout the junior division as the Royals closed out the Lions’ junior boys. The team came out determined and claimed a tightly-contested set one win, 25-23. However, the Lions looked to keep their championship hopes alive after wrapping up the second set 25-10. Despite a big showing from the Lions in the second set, the Royals buckled down and took home set three 15-10 to be crowned the GSSSA junior boys volleyball champions. Dantae Davis was the team’s MVP of the series. The final series of the GSSSA championships saw the junior girls of the Lions topple the SC McPherson Sharks. After going three sets in two consecutive games, the team had to work hard for their final win. The Sharks came out and upset the Lions in a competitive first set 25-22.

In set two, the Lions evened the sets after winning by a difference of two, 25-23. The final set saw both teams hungry for the win but only one could be victorious. The Lions swept the Sharks after finishing 15-13. The team’s MVP title belonged to Andria Nash.

Varel Davis, president of the GSSSA, was very impressed with the level of competition brought by both the junior and senior teams in the championship round. The president added that she wanted to send congratulations to the champions and runners up and was excited that the season went well without any incidents after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She was happy with the efforts of the coaches and students and will now look forward to GSSSA soccer action. The GSSSA soccer season begins today after a three-year hiatus.