Action abounded at the Hamilton senior boys’ high school all-star volleyball game Wednesday. And one of the most ‘bounding’ players on the court represented the Catholic squad.
Joshua Taylor of the Bishop Ryan Celtics was selected Player of the Game during the Public board’s 3-1 victory at Mohawk College. The winning side’s Player of the Game was Jakob Curtis of Westmount.
“J.T. is a great kid,” Catholic head coach Brian Pavlic of the St. John Henry Newman Cardinals said. “He’s got some good hop.
He was cranking balls from the left side. They couldn’t stop him.
“We were telling everybody ‘feed J.T’ because we knew he was getting up high enough to get over the block. He’s a high jumper.”
A Grade 12-plus student, Taylor and his Bishop Ryan teammates once did a vertical test during a tournament at Brock University to see who could jump the highest.
“I touched 11-4,” Taylor recalled.
After taking the first set, 25-14, Catholic dropped the next three – 16-25, 21-25, 15-25.
“There was some real action tonight,” Pavlic said. “The finest volleyball players were playing – Catholic versus Public. It’s always a great match against the other board.” Catholic was represented by players from seven of the league’s teams.
“Our boys gelled,” Pavlic said, “but it was not the outcome we wanted.
“In the fourth set (Public) was blocking us better. We struggled with our serve receive and our serves. If we tightened that up it could have been a different outcome.”
Taylor doesn’t play club volleyball and this was his first year as a high school all-star.
“It was fun,” Taylor said. “Both teams were competitive. Even though we came up short we put up a fight.”
Other players selected to the 2023 Catholic senior all-star team were: Nathaniel Pavlic, Newman, libero; Nathan Nikolic, Newman, right; Noah Letnik, Newman, setter; Abraham Julien, More, middle; Marcus Solano, More, left; Kosta Alexandrovich, More, setter; Anderson Koul, Bishop Ryan, right; Lucas Das Neves Simoes, Bishop Ryan, left; Gabriel Picard, ACMT, middle; Anakin Morelli, ACMT, libero; Nolan Tuck, Brebeuf, middle; Ethan Wysocki, St. Mary, left; Xavier Baptiste, St. Mary, middle; Doug Shewfelt, Cathedral, left.
Photos by Bob Butrym / RFB Sport Photography
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