Ottawa Fusion Volleyball Club

Last Thursday night, June 3, saw over 200 athletes, parents and guests come together at Algonquin College to celebrate the inaugural season of the Ottawa Fusion Volleyball Club. In looking back on this past year, it is safe to say that the OFVC exceeded expectations. We operated 13 teams, 7 girls' teams and 6 boys' teams, who participated in 71 OVA tournaments and 11 Volleyball Canada National Open Championships. In all, Fusion boys and girls brought home 13 Gold medals, 10 Silver medals and 5 Bronze medals. Our 16U Boys Red team brought home a Silver medal from the Canadian East Open, our 17U Girls brought home a Division 2 National Championship banner from the 17U National Open, our 14U Boys brought home a Bronze medal from the Provincial Championships and our 14U Girls were Division 2 Provincial Champions.

The night was an opportunity to celebrate the year - not just the medals won but the friendships formed. The highlight of the evening were the video presentations prepared by each team to celebrate their season. (Check out the Video Vault!). The Club also recognized its first award winners. The Fusion Award of Excellence was awarded to: Melanie Judges (18U Girls), Kendra Freeman (17U Girls), and Jagger Nast (17U Boys). The OVA Award of Excellence was awarded to: Erika Barissa (16U Girls Red), Kimberley Hsuing (16U Girls Purple), Gilad Streiner (16U Boys Red), Brandon Covey (16U Boys Purple), Anna Harman (15U Girls Red), Amanda Ardley (15U Girls Purple), Wei Lin Situ (15U Boys), Ian Derby-Turnbull (15U Boys), Myranda Bingham (14U Girls) and Zeid Hamadeh (14U Boys).

The awards for Most Improved Player went to: Melanie Judges (18U Girls), Alexa Rouleau (17U Girls), Joseph Joseph (17U Boys), Sophie Laflamme (16U Girls Red), Prairie Groves (16U Girls Purple), Eric Girard (16U Boys Red), Jesse Ward-Bond (16U Boys Purple), Tenneille Antoine (15U Girls Red), Sabrina Cobisa (15U Girls Purple), Greg Bian (15U Boys), Rebekah Aaron (14U Girls), Ben Harper (14U Boys).

The awards for Most Valuable Player went to: Julia Bowen (18U Girls), Yasmeen Dawoodjee (17U Girls), Gabriel Aaron (17U Boys), Brenda Li (16U Girls Red), Emma Buajitti (16U Girls Purple), Nathan Biernat (16U Boys Red), Mitchell Wheatley (16U Boys Purple), Haroula Giovanopolous (15U Girls Red), Emika Marinacci (15U Girls Purple), Phillipe Piché (15U Boys), Caroline Lemay (14U Girls), Simon Smyth (14U Boys).

ForeverFusion was introduced as a way to recognize the contribution of graduating players to the club. The following were inducted into the ForeverFusion community: Julia Bowen, Sarah Carbone, Cassie Chajkowski, Mélina Dagenais, Melanie Judges, Evan Munro, Sarah Norton, Karen Pieper, and Samantha Webber.

The club would like to thank Tess Edwards (OKVC 1999-2004, NCVC 2004-05) for taking on the job of MC for the evening. We'd also like to thank the staff at Algonquin for a wonderful dinner.

Have a great summer everyone. Hope to see you at tryouts in September. Watch the website for dates and details of tryouts.