AAA Volleyball Provincial Champions!

The LFA Sr. Volleyball team was outstanding, outlasting all the competition to win the highly coveted prize. Volleyball is a immensely competitive high school sport with nearly every school entering teams into their local BC School Sport leagues. Just making the provincial championship tournament is an honour. It's certainly no small feat to win it all and it has been more than two decades since our Angels were last provincial champions.

After an outstanding season, LFA went into the tournament ranked 3rd. Their season, but especially the championship tournament, were marked by great serving, fabulous team play and some unbelievable defensive plays.

The team began the tournament in Pool C where they finished first by beating Caledonia, Timberline and Ballenas. They crossed over and collected a first round win in straight sets over Brookswood. The Angels then had a terrific show-down vs. MEI in the quarterfinals where they outlasted the Eagles 3-2, 15-13 in the 5th set to make it to the final four. It was a quick re-group for a tough semi-final match against the #2-ranked Nanaimo team. In the semi-final the Angels fought back from a 2-1 deficit to over-come their Island rivals with another 3-2 victory.

Finally, LFA found itself up against was the daunting task of playing against the defending provincial champions (and #1-ranked) Seaquam Seahawks. It was a hotly contested first set with Seaquam winning 25-23. The Angels were not intimidated and were able to persevere in the second set and win with some thrilling digs 29-27. At no time in the first two sets did either team build a lead of more than three points: a testament to how close those first two sets were.

LFA's new gym was packed to capacity, with more than 500 people cheering on the the two teams. It was an amazing atmosphere and helped the girls raise their game. LFA found another gear to the dismay of their opposition, which had gone througth the tournament without a scare. Finding this higher level, LFA won the next two sets going away, 25-18 and 25-16. The four set victory claimed the Provincial Banner in front of the home crowd. For a full match recount, see this Vancouver Courier article.

It was a complete team effort put forward by the Angels. However, some of the team was recognized by the Tournament Committee for individual efforts:

As the coach, I couldn’t be more proud of the effort and passion the team put forward. Way to go Angels!

Ross Ballard

Coach