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The Central Okanagan will be represented by 11 teams at B.C. School Sports senior volleyball championship tournaments during the next couple of weeks.
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AAAA Girls
The Kelowna Owls, the No. 1 seed going into the Okanagan Valley championship tournament hosted by the Mt. Boucherie Bears on the past weekend, lived up to the ranking by defeating the Okanagan Mission Huskies 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-15) in the title match and winning the Valley title for a 13th straight time.
A 3-0 semifinal win over the Rutland Voodoos earned the Owls a berth in the final while OKM defeated the Penticton Lakers in the other semi to claim the second Okanagan spot at the provincial tournament being held in Penticton Nov. 29-Dec. 1.
KSS, ranked as high as third in the province this fall, will go into the 20-team BCSS championship seeded fifth and will begin play in Penticton in a pool with the No. 3 Earl Marriott Mariners of Surrey, the No. 9 Handsworth Royals (North Vancouver), No. 15 South Delta Sun Devils and the No. 19 Claremont Spartans (Victoria).
In their first year at the 4A level, OKM was ranked among the top 10 teams for most of the season and will go into the provincials seeded 10th among the 20 teams.
The Huskies will be in an opening-round pool with the Lord No. 4 Tweedsmuir Panthers (Surrey), No. 6 Lord Byng Grey Ghosts (Vancouver), No. 16 Reynolds Roadrunners (Victoria) and No. 20 Seaquam Seahawks of Delta.
Play continues on Nov. 30 at Pen-Hi and Okanagan College while Dec. 1’s matches will include semifinals (11:30 a.m.), a bronze-medal match (5:15 p.m.) and the championship match at 6:30 p.m.
AAA boys
Wins over the Okanagan Mission Huskies and Penticton Lakers earned the Mt. Boucherie Bears the 2018 Okanagan Valley senior AAA boys volleyball title in Penticton on the weekend.
Ranked third going into the Valley tournament, the Bears knocked off Penticton 3-2 in semifinal play and captured the Valley pennant with a 3-1 victory over the defending-champion OKM Huskies in a rubber match. The two Central Okanagan teams had split their two matches during the regular season.
In what he termed at evenly-matched tournament, Boucherie coach, John McParland, said it was a solid team effort that earned the Bears a Valley title.
“Every player played their role to a high level,” said the veteran mentor. “Hitters Luke Hanson and Matt Stibbs were consistent all weekend and middle Cam Powell continued to be our best offensive player.
“Chris Frei (middle) served very well and provided a spark defensively while Nic Bednar (libero) and Ben Gammell (left side) passed particularly well.”
The Bears, ranked 13th in the province last week, will go into the 16-team BCSS provincial tournament at the Langley Events Centre Nov. 28-Dec. 1 as the eighth seed and will begin power-pool play against No. 5 Oak Bay Bays, No. 6 Mt. Baker Wild (Cranbrook) and No. 7 Delta Pacers (Ladner).
OKM goes into Langley ranked No 10 and the Kelowna Owls will be at No. 12, both playing in the opening round-robin pool with No. 9 Argyle Pipers (North Vancouver) and No. 11 Dover Bay Dolphins of Nanaimo.
AA Boys
Not surprisingly, the George Elliot Coyotes lived up to their billing and breezed to an Okanagan Valley senior AA boys volleyball championship on home court on the weekend.
Ranked No. 1 in the province for most of the season, the Coyotes swept four straight matches on the way to the Valley pennant and will go into the B.C. School Sports championship tournament in Langley Nov. 28-Dec. 1 as the top seed among 20 teams.
The Coyotes, able to utilize all of their deep roster for much of the weekend, capped a dominating weekend by defeating the Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-17) in the title match after disposing of the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops 3-0 in semifinal play.
As the top-seed at provincials, Elliot will open up in power-Pool A on opening day along with No. 2 College Heights Cougars of Prince George, No. 3 Langley Christian Lightning and No. 4 MEI Eagles of Abbotsford.
Prince Margaret will be seeded 10th and will open up against No. 9 Lambrick Park Lions (Victoria), No. 11 Prince Charles (Creston) and No. 12 Revelstoke Avalanche
AA Girls
For the first time in recent memory, the George Elliot Coyotes will be represented at the B.C. School Sports provincial AA girls volleyball championship tournament.
The Coyotes earned a berth in the 16-team event in Burnaby Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 with a roundabout second-place finish at the Okanagan Valley championship tournament.
After a 3-1 loss to the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops, — the eventual Valley pennant winners — in semifinal play in Summerland on the weekend, the Coyotes challenged the Kalamalka Lakers of Vernon for the second Okanagan berth at provincials because the two teams hadn’t met each other in the Valley tournament.
The challenge game on Tuesday saw the Coyotes — with exemplary serving and passing — defeat the Kal 3-1 (25-20, 27-25, 12-25, 25-18) for the right to advance to the BCSS provincial tournament.
Although Elliot’s win was “a total team effort”, according to head coach Doug Meraw, the Coyotes were led by Tessa Ivans (15 digs, 11 kills) and Jasanna Kunz (13 digs, 18 kills).
Setter Sheena Macfarlane was outstanding for the winners while the serving and defence of the Coyotes’ Abby Einarson, Thea Ley, Julia Paulson and Chloe Ladd proved too much for the Lakers. And despite Kalamalka having a height advantage, Elliot’s Georgia Maclean and Maya Ufimzeff held their own in the middle.
A Girls
Silver medalists a year ago, the Kelowna Christian School Knights will be aiming to take a step up on the podium when they return to the B.C. School Sports senior A girls volleyball championship tournament in Nanaimo Nov. 28-Dec. 1.
The Knights earned the right to make their bid for gold by winning the Okanagan Valley pennant in Kamloops on the weekend, defeating the Vernon Christian Royals 3-1 in the championship match.
Ranked No. 2 in the province going into the Valley championship, the Knights will be joined at provincials by Vernon Christian, the third-place Aberdeen Hall Gryphons of Kelowna and the surprising Immaculata Mustangs of Kelowna, who fell to Aberdeen in the third-place match.
A Boys
Buoyed by an upset win over the No. 2-ranked team in the province, the Kelowna Christian School Knights are in Prince George this week vying for a medal at the B.C. School Sports senior A boys volleyball championship tournament.
The Knights earned their berth at the tournament with a second-place finish at the Okanagan Valley championship on home court.
Although KCS dropped a 3-1 decision to the Vernon Christian School Royals in the Valley’s title match, the Knights did pull off an upset in pool play, knocking off the northern representatives 2-0. The second set went to 27-25 after the Knights had trailed 23-18.
Action at the BCSS provincial tournament in PG begins on Thursday with the Knights ranked fifth among the 12 teams. They’ll meet No. 7 Mt. Sentinel of Slocan in their opening match and No. 1-seed Centennial Christian of Terrace in their second.
Play resumes on Friday and Saturday, with the B.C. championship being decided in the gold-medal match on Saturday beginning at 6 p.m.
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