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Playing in what has been the strongest division in provincial high school boys volleyball this season, the George Elliot Coyotes face a Herculean task in competing for a medal at next week’s B.C. School Sports AA championship tournament in Langley.
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The Lake Country representatives got another taste of what they’ll be up against in the 16-team provincial showdown at the Langley Events Centre when they met the No. 3-ranked Clarence Fulton Maroons of Vernon in the Okanagan Valley tournament final on the weekend.
While the Coyotes, seeded seventh going into the 2015 provincials, opened with a 25-22 upset of the Maroons in the first game of the Valley final in Kamloops, it proved to be but an aberration as Fulton stormed back with 25-11, 25-17, 25-15 decisions for the Okanagan championship.
Still, with three wins at the Valley tournament leading up to Saturday’s final, the Coyotes showed flashes of brilliance, more of which they’ll need to climb to within striking distance of a podium position in Langley.
“The top four teams — MEI Eagles of Abbotsford, Langley Christian Lightning, Fulton and Pacific Academy Breakers of Surrey — are very strong, but each of them has some weaknesses that we can exploit if we play our best and keep the errors very low,” said Elliot head coach, Chris Frehlick, whose team will be looking to win its provincial medal since it garnered back-to-back bronze in 1994 and 1995. The Coyotes finished fourth in 2010.
“The key for us, getting a shot at a medal will depend on us winning a key match in the round of 16. After that, we will have a quarter-final against teams we can compete (well) against,” added Frehlick, who guided the Mt.Boucherie Bears to an AAA provincial title in 2003.
That said, the veteran coach knows all will have to fall into place during the four-day event for his young team to pull off some upsets.
“Our highest level is getting every good, but we are still inconsistent. We’ll need our top three players during the season— Morgan Nichols (Grade 11 setter), Brandon Mallam (Gr. 12 power hitter) and Fynn McCarthy (Gr. 11 power hitter) — to be our best players at provincials, while guys like Trevor Jones (Gr. 12 middle blocker), who stepped up his game in the middle at Valleys, will have to continue making an impact.”
The Coyotes, who won the Central Okanagan zone title by defeating the Okanagan Mission Huskies 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19) prior to the trip to Kamloops, opened the eight-team Valley tournament by defeating the Sa-hali Sabres of Kamloops 25-21, 25-21.
A quarter-final matchup saw Elliot down the Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton 25-10, 25-19, 25-18, while they earned a berth in the final by coming back to defeat the No. 9-ranked W.L. Seaton Sonics of Vernon 25-22, 13-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13.
Meanwhile, the OKM Huskies placed fifth among the eight teams. They opened with a 2-1 win over Princess Margaret, but fell 3-1 to Sa-hali in quarter-final play.
Elliot will open power pool play on Dec. 2, taking on No. 5 College Heights, No. 6 Langley Fundamental and No. 8 Pacific Christian.
Meanwhile, Clarence Fulton is in power pool A with MEI, Langley Christian and Pacific Academy.
Rounding out the Elliot roster are Samson Kneller, Jared Darley, Ethan Callow, Brendan Michaud, Charonjot Sidhu and Keenan Ladd.
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