The Waterloo Tigers Boys 17U team achieved Gold for the very first time on Sunday, February 4th, in London. The boys came into the 10 team tournament ranked second, behind Pakmen Black. Their day started by playing the hometown London Fire team in pool play. The Tigers came out slowly, but managed to win in two relatively close sets. They finished atop their pool after a second straight-set win – this one over the Chatham Ballhawks. In the quarter final match, they easily handled Sky Volley team from Windsor, with double digit wins in both sets. The semi-finals was against a talented 16U team from Hamilton. The Tigers had a rough start facing an early 5 point deficit, however they overcame this, winning the first set 25-22. The second set, was once again very close, with the Tigers coming up short, losing 25-23. In the third and final set, the team was trailing 14-10, facing 4 straight match points for Hamilton. The boys clawed back to win 17-15, in an incredible comeback that gave them a berth in the finals. The Gold Medal Game was against the third ranked Georgetown Impact. The Tigers came out flat, dropping the first set 25-15, but responded with an authoritative 25-13 second set victory, and did not look back, taking the third set 15-10 to capture their first gold medal ever. The Waterloo Tigers hope to build off this result in their final OVA tournament in March, prior to the Ontario Championships in early April, at RIM Park in Waterloo.”