Ashley Sippala

Ashley Sippala
Curler
Sippala at the 2022 Players' Championship
Born
Ashley Miharija

(1987-01-21) January 21, 1987 (age 37)
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Team
Curling clubFort William CC,
Thunder Bay, ON
SkipKrista McCarville
ThirdAndrea Kelly
SecondKendra Lilly
LeadAshley Sippala
AlternateSarah Potts
Curling career
Member Association Northern Ontario
Hearts appearances8 (2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Top CTRS ranking8th (2021–22)
Medal record
Curling
Representing  Northern Ontario
Scotties Tournament of Hearts
Silver medal – second place 2016 Grande Prairie
Silver medal – second place 2022 Thunder Bay
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Kamloops
Representing  Ontario
Scotties Tournament of Hearts
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Sault Ste. Marie
Canadian Olympic Curling Trials
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Saskatoon

Ashley Sippala (born Ashley Miharija, January 21, 1987) is a Canadian curler. Sippala currently plays front-end on the Krista McCarville rink.

Career

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Sippala's first major curling event was when she played third for Mike Assad's Northern Ontario team at the 2008 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship. The team finished 6–5.[1]

Sippala skipped Team Northern Ontario at the 2008 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. Her rink of Jessica Williams, Jenna Enge and Sarah Lang finished with an 8–4 record, before losing in a tie-breaker match to Saskatchewan.[2]

The following season, Sippala qualified for her first women's provincial championship. She skipped her Port Arthur Curling Club rink to a 4–5 record at the 2009 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts.[3] She was invited by Krista McCarville to be the team's alternate at the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.[4]

The following season, she fully joined the McCarville rink, first playing as the team's second. The team won the 2010 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts,[5] and the team went on to win a bronze medal at the 2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, losing the semi-final to Prince Edward Island.[6]

The next season, Sippala was promoted to the team's third.[7] She was moved to second in 2015 when Kendra Lilly was added to the team. The team won a silver medal at the 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.[8] They also played in the 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, finishing 4–4.[9]

Team McCarville won the 2020 Northern Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts which qualified them for the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.[10] They lost the 3 vs. 4 game to Ontario's Rachel Homan.[11]

The 2021 Northern Ontario provincial playdowns were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario. As the 2020 provincial champions, Sippala, with McCarville's team, was given an automatic invitation to represent Northern Ontario at the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary. However, the team declined the invitation, citing family and work priorities.[12]

Team McCarville had enough points to qualify for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials.[13] There, they went 5–1 through the round robin, qualifying for the playoffs. The team had two impressive come-from-behind wins in their two playoff games. In their first game against the Mackenzie Zacharias rink, they were down 7–3 heading into the tenth end, but scored four points, then stole a point in the extra end to win the match. In their second game against Jacqueline Harrison, the team gave up five points in the second end to trail 5–1, but rallied back to win the game 9–6.[14] With the win, they qualified for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, held November 20 to 28 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.[15] At the Trials, the team went through the round robin with a 4–4 record.[16] This earned them a spot in the second tiebreaker where they defeated Kerri Einarson 4–3.[17] In the semifinal, they lost 8–3 to Jennifer Jones, eliminating them from contention. The 2022 Northern Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts was cancelled due to the pandemic and Team McCarville were selected to represent their province at the national women's championship.[18] At the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the team went 5–3 through the round robin, enough to qualify for the playoffs.[19] The team then won both of their seeding round games and defeated New Brunswick's Andrea Crawford in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game to qualify for the final where they faced the Einarson rink. There, they could not keep their momentum going, losing the Scotties final 9–6.[20] They wrapped up their season at the 2022 Players' Championship where they missed the playoffs.

With their success at the Olympic Trials and Scotties, the McCarville rink racked up enough points to qualify for the first Slam of the 2022–23 season, the 2022 National. There, they finished with a 1–3 record, defeating Hollie Duncan in their lone win.[21] The team also qualified for the 2022 Tour Challenge Tier 2 event, winning one game against Denmark's Madeleine Dupont. In December, Team McCarville competed in the Curl Mesabi Classic where they went undefeated until the final, losing 5–3 to the United States' Tabitha Peterson.[22] Next for the team was the 2023 Northern Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts. There, they finished first through the round robin with a 5–1 record, earning them a spot in the 1 vs. 2 game. They defeated Jackie McCormick to advance to the final where they topped Krysta Burns 9–4, securing their spot in the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops, British Columbia.[23] At the Hearts, the team topped their pool with a 7–1 record before defeating Nova Scotia's Christina Black in the page seeding game to reach the 1 vs. 2 game for a second straight year.[24] However, they lost both the page playoff and semifinal to Manitoba's Jennifer Jones and Canada's Kerri Einarson respectively, settling for bronze.[25]

For the 2023–24 season, Team McCarville added New Brunswick native Andrea Kelly as their new third, with Sippala, Lilly and Potts rotating on the front-end.[26] The team had immediate success together, winning the 2023 KW Fall Classic by defeating Scotland's Rebecca Morrison.[27] They also had a quarterfinal finish at the North Grenville Women's Fall Curling Classic, losing out to Hailey Armstrong. In the new year, the team again won the 2024 Northern Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts with ease, going undefeated to claim their fourth straight title at the event.[28] At the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, the team had mixed results. Sitting 4–3 heading into their last round robin game, they lost to Manitoba's Kaitlyn Lawes 6–5. This created a five-way tie for third with Lawes, British Columbia, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. With tiebreaker games abolished and the first tiebreaker (which was head-to-head between all tied teams) tied as well at 2–2, cumulative last stone draw distance between all the teams was used to decide who would make the playoffs. The McCarville rink finished with a total of 370.3 but would miss the playoffs as the Lawes rink finished first with a 231.6.[29]

Personal life

[edit]

Sippala is employed as a lab technician for the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. She is married to Brian Sippala and has two children.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "Canadian Mixed Curling Championship: 2008 Mixed" (PDF). Canadian Curling Association. January 17, 2008. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Miharija 4–5 at 2009 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  4. ^ "2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts" (PDF). Canadian Curling Association. May 3, 2010. p. 2. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  5. ^ "Ontario Scotties — Playoffs". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  6. ^ "2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts" (PDF). Canadian Curling Association. September 24, 2010. pp. 2, 41. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "Ashley Sippala Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  8. ^ "Alberta wins 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts". Curling Canada. February 29, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  9. ^ "2017 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings — Women: Standings/Draw: Round Robin". Curling Canada. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  10. ^ Dunick, Leith (February 2, 2020). "McCarville headed to eighth Scotties Tournament of Hearts". TBayNewsWatch. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  11. ^ Wyman, Ted (February 22, 2020). "Veteran Homan books spot in Scotties semifinal with spectacular shot in ninth end against McCarville". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  12. ^ Heroux, Devin (December 17, 2020). "'Family first': Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville declines invite to Scotties bubble". CBC Sports. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  13. ^ "2021 Trials proceess revised". Curling Canada. February 4, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  14. ^ Devin Heroux (October 30, 2021). "Krista McCarville punches ticket to Olympic curling trials in Saskatoon". CBC Sports. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  15. ^ Ryan Horne (November 12, 2021). "Tim Hortons Curling Trials Profile: Team McCarville". TSN. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  16. ^ "Tiebreaker logjam". Curling Canada. November 26, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  17. ^ Leith Dunick (November 27, 2021). "McCarville edges Einarson for spot in Olympic Trials semifinal". Thunder Bay News Watch. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  18. ^ "Team McCarville to represent Northern Ontario at 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts". CURL NOCA. January 7, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  19. ^ "A helping hand!". Curling Canada. February 3, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  20. ^ Jim Morris (February 6, 2022). "Kerri Einarson wins 3rd consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts". CBC Sports. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  21. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (October 7, 2022). "Fujisawa fends off Einarson to stay undefeated in Boost National". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  22. ^ "2022 Curl Mesabi Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  23. ^ Kris Ketonen (January 31, 2023). "McCarville, Horgan prepare for national curling championships after victories at northern Ontario playdowns". CBC Sports. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  24. ^ "One Step Closer!". Curling Canada. February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  25. ^ "Four in Sight!". Curling Canada. February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  26. ^ Rory Summer (March 27, 2023). "9-time N.B. provincial champion Andrea Kelly links up with Team McCarville". CBC Sports. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  27. ^ "McCarville wins with new teammate Kelly while Tirinzoni continues dominance". TSN. September 17, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  28. ^ Leith Dunick (January 28, 2024). "New-look McCarville team returning to the Scotties". TB News Watch. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  29. ^ "Lawes Lobbies Back!". Curling Canada. February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  30. ^ "2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
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