The landscape has changed in club-based girls volleyball in B.C.
But even assembling some of the Lower Mainland and Fraser ValleyB次元官网网址檚 top individual players in an academy program, and placing the best of the best on one team, wasnB次元官网网址檛 enough to beat the Victoria Volleyball Association Chargers.
The Chargers, most of whom played for the B.C. Grade 10 champion Belmont Bulldogs team, captured their third straight Volleyball B.C. title Sunday in Abbotsford. This time it came in the 16-under division, with three straight championship round sweeps. The last match win, over a Surrey-based team known as Academy Black, saw the Chargers reel off 25-18 and 27-25 wins and shock the developers of a program designed to groom top players for greater glory, said Chargers co-coach Mike Toakley.
B次元官网网址淭hese kids have worked really hard and overcome great odds to continue to be at the top of the heap,B次元官网网址� he said.
Of the academy programs, he added, B次元官网网址淭heir expectation is that theyB次元官网网址檙e not only going to win at this level, but to have opportunities to play post-secondary volleyball.B次元官网网址� The players, whose families pay thousands to enrol them in the program, he said, B次元官网网址渁re extremely talented and extremely motivated B次元官网网址� and uniformly six feet tall.B次元官网网址�
Having won the last two Volleyball B.C. age group championships, even before the formation of the elite academies in Surrey and at UBC, the Chargers had a target on their backs. They suffered one match loss in SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 round robin play, to AbbotsfordB次元官网网址檚 Dig Dynasty, and finished second. But they got on a roll early Sunday by beating the AcademyB次元官网网址檚 Gold team 2-0 (25-20, 25-17).
Playing solid system play and consistently executing strategies they worked on in practise and previous tournaments, they were a force. Toakley said he and co-coach Ron Mutch looked at each other afterward and agreed that the Chargers had a chance to win it all if they continued such play.
B次元官网网址淓motionally that was an important match, because it showed them that they had what it takes to overcome this level of opponent,B次元官网网址� Toakley said.
A 2-0 (25-17, 25-23) win over longtime nemesis Ducks HP from Coquitlam in the semifinals set up the final showdown between the two black-shirted rivals.
With her teammates playing near-perfect serve-receive ball, setter Taylee Pomponio continued to show great poise and composure to give her teamB次元官网网址檚 hitters near-perfect balls to work with.
And with power hitter and eventual tournament MVP Savannah Purdy and fellow front court players picking apart the Academy defence, the Chargers stunned their opponents by opening up a 16-6 lead in the first set.
Game 2 was closer as the mainland squad adjusted, but the Chargers didnB次元官网网址檛 flinch and didnB次元官网网址檛 let Academy sustain any momentum.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been playing together, the majority of us, for so long now that we all work well together,B次元官网网址� Purdy said. B次元官网网址淲e practised really hard this year knowing what we were up against B次元官网网址� I think we got better as the day went along.B次元官网网址�
She gave great kudos to the Chargers coaches, who have guided this group along for the past five years or so.
Toakley put the three-peat into perspective. B次元官网网址淭he whole idea that they did it three times is really spectacular,B次元官网网址� he said. While school play is whatever an individual school can throw at you, he said club volleyball is such a high level. B次元官网网址淗ere youB次元官网网址檙e talking about kids representing dozens of schools potentially, even more so this year than ever before, youB次元官网网址檙e not just looking at two or three.B次元官网网址�
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
