Another League Championship

In the first set, the Angels started off strong. Their defending was awesome, allowing them to set up their attack. Excellent digs resulted in an array of aerial attacks from all angles. And they hit their mark. The Angels’ serves were a mix of hard “fastballs” and “slow curves” that had STM guessing and forced all sorts of errors. The charging start shell-shocked STM, clipping them 25-13 in the first set. The second set was a different game: a nail bitter second. LFA hoped to seal the victory, but STM regrouped and showed why they are worthy opponents. They traded points back and forth throughout the set, but STM prevailed 25-20.

This set up a dramatic third set. It was back as forth, with long rallies for both sides. STM took an 8-6 lead at the mid-point. After switching sides LFA re-took the lead, getting up 13-10. Again, and to their credit, STM regained their composure and fought back to tie the game. The turning point was when STM tried a “high risk-high reward” drop serve that hit the top of the net and trickled down onto STM’s side. With that, LFA got the ball back and won with a spike that bounced off the top of net, spun sideways and then casually fell in the court. Team members rushed the court with tears of joy and jubilation and proud parents high fived each other in the stand. No matter how strong the program, Championships are hard to come by. Two years in a row of finishing runner up and the perspective of a long season, it was no surprise to see some of the girls she a tear of during the trophy presentation. For the Grade 9’s, they’ve put together a nice little league championships streak, having won the Bantam League last year.

This whole season has been a complete team effort. Everyone has played a role to win this championship. Coach Adrian’s strategy of getting every player meaningful minutes in every game paid off. Even in this high-pressure championship game, true to his philosophy, players were asked to come in and play their role. No better example is the team’s serving, which executed at a remarkable 90% serves “in” and scoring 15% of the game’s total points. The important second set line that overcomes coming in cold, is always mentally prepared and ready to go as they face teams that overwhelmingly play their same line throughout all sets. This team had a culture of inclusiveness, encouragement, and cheerfulness which translated into the games and evident by the friendships between the two grades. Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the other.”

The members of the 2016 League Champions are:

Kayla Canama ‘19
Nicole Cormack ‘19
Shelisse Durity-Wingson ‘19
Alexis Fong ’19 (Captain)
Cecilia Ho ‘20
Gisella Goodger ’19 (Captain; Finals Player of the Game)
Gabriella Goodger ‘20
Chiara Mezzaroba ‘20
Maddie Miller ‘20
Maibell Ong ‘19
Molly Ring ‘20
Mel Tran ‘20
Ashley Velasco ‘19
Haley Wieczorek ‘20

Thanks to Coach Bethany, Ms. Komad and Jen our manger. A big thank you to Coach Adrian: you were there with the Grade 10’s from the start of Bantam through both Junior years, collecting 2 League Championships and a Silver.

The season is not yet over! The Junior Angels advance now to the Provincials, which will be held in Delta on Nov 25 and 26. Stay tuned.

With thanks to Arthur Fong for his contribution of game stories and photography throughout the season.