For the first time in club history, two teams from the Steel City Ignite Volleyball Club competed in the Ontario Volleyball Association Beach Tour on June 18th & 19th. Representing 18U were Taya Venneri & Juliette Lamour while 15U was represented by Lauren Doyle-Moran & Sophie Lamour.

The June 18th competition was held in Brampton, Ontario at Chinguacousy Park. While both Steel City Ignite teams had a strong showing in the Silver Division, they both were eliminated in the semi-finals.

On June 19th, the Sault teams competed in Barrie, Ontario at Horseshoe Resort in the Premier Division. Both teams played a more complete game against tough competition and provided a very entertaining day of Beach Volleyball.

Venneri/Lamour had their best outing of the weekend but lost in a tight match that went to three sets in the Semi-Finals and finished in third place. The winner of the 18U Gold Medal was A.Istratescu/A.Miller of the Storm Volleyball Club out of Aurora, Ontario

In the 15U Division, Lauren Doyle-Moran & Sophie Lamour broke through and advanced to the finals. The Sault girls lost to C.Mercer/A.Zhou out of Milton, Ontario but managed to secure the silver medal, a first for the Sault club.

Steel City Ignites’s Annette Lamour said: “The teams really came together this weekend to reach this goal. Beach Volleyball is a much different game than what we play on the court, and we are a young club. This is all very new to us. But the girls worked and practiced hard and were able to execute their plan at the perfect time. We’re excited to prepare now for the OVA Beach Volleyball Championship at the end of July. With Canadian teams now having success on the world stage in beach volleyball, we expect to see this sport grow in our community and look forward to training more players from the Sault.”