After taking bronze last week at the WOSSAA championships, the F.E. Madill senior girls team will be back in Stratford this week after one of the teams was unable to compete at the tournament.
Madill travelled to Stratford March 2 to compete in the ‘AAA’  WOSSAA finals hosted by St. Michael’s Secondary School.  In the semifinal match, the girls met up with the first-ranked team in Thames Valley District, the Oakridge Oaks from London.  
Although Madill started out with a very close set losing by only two points (23-25), they were not able to hold off the strong Oakridge team and lost the next two sets. Madill moved on to play the Bluebombers from Ingersoll District. Madill had been defeated in a close match against this team in January when the two teams met in the final game at an invitational tournament hosted by the Ingersoll team. However, over the last few months, the Madill girls have really developed their skills and that was very evident in this repeat match-up of these two teams.  
Madill won the opening set of the final 25-21, but the Bluebombers battled back to win the second set.  However, they weren’t strong enough to hold off the determined Madill Mustangs, who went on to take the next two sets and claim the WOSSAA bronze medal.
Oakridge went on to defeat the St. Mike’s Warriors and claim WOSSAA gold.
Following the finals, Madill coach Pat Donnelly said, “I am so proud of what these girls have accomplished not only this season, but over the past four years.  I would like to thank all of the players for all the time and effort they have put in and would like to extend a thank you to all of the parents for their tremendous support over the years. Well wishes to our three graduating players: Alicia Appleby, Heather deBoer and Erin Gilchrist.  Congratulations, girls!”
After coming back from OFSAA, the team will get another good learning experience this spring when they take the court in California, which Donnelly said is a hot bed of volleyball in the United States.
The team will leave for California just before March break for a series of exhibition games against club teams and Donnelly said it is the first trip he has taken a team on.
“We’ll see if we can hold our own,” said Donnelly, who added, “With several players finishing their high school career this spring, it is a perfect end to their careers.”