For West Shore volleyballers Gracie May and Taylee Pomponio, the second time was the charm competing at the Canadian Western Beach National Championships.

The 13-year-olds, playing in the 14-under division, captured the bronze medal, after going undefeated the first two days of com- petition.

A three-set victory (19-21, 21-16, 15-6) over fellow B.C. team Penner/Chong on Aug. 16 in Parksville earned the medal and saw them finish the tournament with a nearly flawless 8-1 match record.

B次元官网网址淥verall, I was really proud of us,B次元官网网址� May said of their efforts. B次元官网网址淟ast year was not as successful; we were playing against older girls. We were happy to be playing with (our own) age group this time.B次元官网网址�

Their lone defeat was a narrow 21-17, 21-17 semifinal loss to the eventual gold medallists, Kroonje and Thompson from Alberta.

May attributed what she characterized as a slow start in the bronze medal match to disappointment over the loss.

But they quickly regrouped, got back down to business and improved as the match went on.

One of the highlights of the tournament was a 21-19, 21-17 power pool victory over B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Pantovic/Ostojic, the pair who beat them for gold at the provincial championships this summer.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e very competitive and they came in wanting it again,B次元官网网址� May said of the Vancouver-area team. B次元官网网址淏ut Taylee and I talked about (strategy) before the match, having seen them before. It was really successful, our first passes were amazing.B次元官网网址�

The West Shore girls, who will be teammates on Belmont secondaryB次元官网网址檚 junior girls indoor team agreed communication on the court and off played a big part in their success this summer.

B次元官网网址淚 think we talked together pretty well, and we seemed to work

well as a team,B次元官网网址� Pomponio said.

B次元官网网址淭his year it seemed that we practised a bit more and went into provincials and worked hard.B次元官网网址�

May and Pomponio started the playoff round on the Sunday by sweeping an Alberta pair 2-0 (21-9, 21-9) in the quarter-finals on the Sunday.

In the 16-under girls division, two local pairs competing with players a year older also performed well, finishing far higher than their pre-tournament seeding.

West Shore players Savannah Purdy and Olivia Godek, who came in ranked 17th, finished second in their pool on day 1, as did the team of Hannah May (GracieB次元官网网址檚 older sister) of Langford and Erin Mutch of Oak Bay (25th seed).

Repooling on the Saturday saw the two pairs in the same pool, with Purdy and Godek going 2-1 and May and Mutch 1-2.

The clubmates had one of their closest matches against each other, with Purdy and Godek winning 21-18, 21-19.

Godek and Purdy lost in three sets to an Alberta team, (21-16, 16-21, 10-15) in the Tier 1 (Div. 1) quarter-finals.

Relegated to Div. 2, May and Mutch peeled off a quarter-final win over Tepper/Lautrup of B.C., (21-15, 22-20), then downed Foxcroft/ Molengraaf of Alberta 19-21, 21-15, 15-4 in the semis.

After a nailbiting 21-18 loss to open the Div. 2 final against the B.C. duo of Franklin/ Yule, May and Mutch scrapped through extra points in the second set before losing 25-27 to take the silver.

B次元官网网址淚t was Erin and IB次元官网网址檚 first nationals together; I was proud of how we finished,B次元官网网址� said Hannah May.

This past weekend, Purdy and her Ontario partner Charlie Holborn, who grew up in Langford, competed in the 15-under National Beach Volleyball Championships in Toronto.

After finishing round- robin with a 4-2 record, the duo advanced to the semi-finals where they lost to eventual champions Roscoe and Heeney of Ontario.

Mike Toakley, who coaches the girls during club season and will eventually do so at Belmont, said he continues to be amazed how quickly all the girls learned to adjust for conditions such as wind and the sand in the outdoor game.

B次元官网网址淥ne of the things I like about the kids IB次元官网网址檓 coaching is theyB次元官网网址檙e smart,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淭hey obviously are very good athletes, but they think their way through things.

B次元官网网址淭hey call their own timeouts and unlike indoor, they decide when to call the coach over. ItB次元官网网址檚 good for their development and teaches them to be more independent and problem solve.B次元官网网址�

editor@goldstreamgazette.com