By Bruce Burton
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—The regular season has ended for local secondary school volleyball teams.
Cayuga and Hagerville Secondary girls faced off at the end of the season on February 9, 2023. The Cayuga Seniors lost the first two games, 25-13 and 25-20, before staging a comeback to take the final three games against Hagersville to end the regular season. By winning that match, Cayuga moves one spot ahead of Hagersville leading into the playoffs, which began with the quarterfinals on February 13.
The Athletic Association of Brant, Haldimand & Norfolk Counties (AABHN) playoffs are played as an east vs. west format – first in Haldimand playing fourth in Norfolk, second playing third, etc.
The Cayuga Senior girl’s volleyball team won the first game 25-21 against Simcoe Composite in their AABHN District 5 quarterfinal, but that was as close as they got to the AABHN final, as the Norfolk school came back with three straight wins (25-23, 25-10, 25-12) to end the season for the green and gold.
In fact, that was the closest that any Haldimand District 9 team came to a pennant, as every other team went down three straight to their Norfolk opponents. The Cayuga Juniors lost to Delhi, the Dunnville Juniors lost to Simcoe while the Seniors lost to Delhi, and the Hagersville Juniors lost to Valley Heights while the Seniors lost to Holy Trinity.
As of press time, the only Haldimand school left in contention was McKinnon Park, with both teams advancing to the District 5 semifinals. Their Seniors beat Paris last Friday and were scheduled to meet Pauline Johnson on Tuesday. The Juniors received a bye and were scheduled to meet St. John’s on Tuesday. Results were not available as of press time.
The winners of each semifinal will decide the AABHN finals, to be played on February 17. The winner of that match will advance to the CWOSSA Championships the following week.
