For a team that has dominated the league and every tournament thus far this season, the Central Cyclones added their fourth straight league title.
It was another dominating performance by the Cyclones, who kept it calm on the court as they downed the Peacock Toilers in three sets — 25-13, 25-11 and 25-11 in the senior boys league volleyball final on Thursday evening at SIAST.
“They played very well tonight. Not a lot of errors, which is key to our game. The team that makes the least amount of errors is going to win,” said Cyclones coach Shaune Gray. “I think they feel good about and enjoy it. They aren’t letting up and they keep stepping up.”
With three Grade 10 starters for Peacock, it seemed like nerves got the best of them right from the start, as the Cyclones scored eight straight points in the first set.
“I think a combination of nerves on our part. You can’t help but be nervous in your first city final, whereas they have been there before,” stated Peacock’s coach Paul Thoroughgood.
Everything worked for Central in the final, their serving was on key, their passing was strong and their kills at the net were powerful. The majority of the team is still the same as last year, which helped the team keep calm.
“We treated it just like it was just another game. You can’t let the nerves get to you, so we tried to keep them low key and steady,” explained Gray. “We didn’t make a lot of mistakes and that’s what it really comes down to.”
The Toilers set a goal for themselves at the beginning of the season to be in the city final and are pleased with a second place finish.
“We played in the city final, so we are happy we achieved our goal,” said Thoroughgood. “To go from seventh place in the city to second place in the city, I am very happy with the boys. I think they worked real hard and bought into the system that we were running.”
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
