The U-15 Stingers Gold participated in the Championship Division Bugarski Cup volleyball tournament at the Stratford Agriplex this past weekend and finished strong coming away with the silver medals.

Stingers Gold finished at the top of their pool with two match wins against Simcoe Xtreme and South County Bandits. The Stratford girls then won a tough cross-over match that went to three nail-biting sets with Waterloo Tigers Black, 23-25, 25-22 and 15-6.

This win advanced Stingers to the semi-finals where they defeated Guelph Grizzlies, also in three hard-hitting sets, 22-25, 28-26 and 15-10.

The U-15 Stingers faced Burlington Blaze in the gold-medal finale, but came up short losing both sets, 16-25 and 22-25 despite showing great team play.
Cassie LaFay and Ashlyn Maxwell came up strong with big timely blocks and diving defensive digs. Lena Bryan and Hailee Thomson were strong with well-placed hits and spikes down the line.

Jen Murray continued her hot streak with rocket-like serves and powerful hits, and Hannah Runciman was solid at the net with tips and blocks. Amy Kocher and Ellie Edwards set the pace with excellent setting to control the play, and Nicole Mazzanti was strong offensively with cross-court spikes and big kills.