The St. Michael Mustangs Junior girls’ volleyball team took the long drive down highway 401 on Monday to Napanee District high school and returned home with a gold medal for their efforts. After cruising through the round robin portion of the tournament with wins over Center Hastings, GREC, LCVI and Holy Cross, the Mustangs advanced to the semi-finals and faced off against a talented squad from North Addington. After falling behind 11-1 in the first set, the girls climbed back into the game and tied it up at 24. After battling back and forth for several possessions, the Mustangs finally pulled ahead and won a nail biter 32-30. The second set proved to be just as close as the Kemptville squad held on to win 25-23 and advanced to the finals against Nicholson high school from Belleville. The first set of the match did not go as the Mustangs had planned as they fell to Nicholson 25-22. The Mustangs showed their resiliency in the second set by winning 25-21 to force a 3rd and deciding set. Ten strong serves in a row from grade 9 student Sydney Murray was too much for the Belleville team to handle and the Mustangs cruised to a 15-6 win to take home the gold. Tatiana Weissflog and Brooke Cornel led the team in hitting while Tasha Lapenskie and Megan O’Connell provided great defense all day. Consistent setting from Grace Besserer and Mel Keating helped lead the juniors to victory. The Mustangs look to continue their winning ways as they head to Brockville on Wednesday for regular season play.