Junior Volleyball Finish Top 10 in Province

The Junior Angels ranked first in their pool of four. Though they had some players still feeling getting back from feeling unwell or lingering injuries , they came out of the gates winning their first game against Lord Tweedsmuir in three sets. They dropped their second game to Vernon in three sets, and then regrouped in the third game against Claremont by winning in three sets. This put the Angels in a must win against (3-0) Kelowna the next day to advance into the Top 8 and keep their Championship hopes alive. 

In the first set Kelowna dominated, winning 25-12. In set 2, the Angels arguably played their best volleyball all year, coming from behind to win 25-21. This set up a third set (sounds familiar?) that was filled with twists and turns and had parents from both teams on the edge of their seats. It was so close, that at the half-way switch, Kelowna was only ahead by a single point, 8-7. The teams traded points back and forth. Both coaches were animated and encouaraging and both called their time-outs to calm nerves as the game went to 12-12, then 13-13. The Angels took the lead again 15-14, but in the end, could not nail that last spike. Kelowna scored 3 straight points on unforced errors by the Angels to win 17-15. Disappointed and mentally drained, the Angels had to play right away against Handsworth for 9th or 13th place.

Such was the nature of our team approach that Coach Adrian confidently turned to a lineup of mostly grade 9’s for the bounce-back game. Gaining experience and seizing their moment, several younger players who had been in a more supporting role up to this game took it as their “gold” medal opportunity against a clearly more senior Handsworth team. The Angels played with poise and zeal, winning the first set 25-20. In the second set, the Angels were leading 24-22 but both teams traded multiple soft volleys playing it safe as none wanted to make a mistake... or was it they just wanted to keep playing? In a fitting end to their junior careers, Alexis Fong '19 executed a perfect 51 to Kayla Canama '19, who spiked it through the Handsworth defense to win finally grab a game in two sets. With the 9th place finish, the Angels bettered their 27th place finish last year. Remembering how competitive high school volleyball can be, it's an accomplishment just to get to Provincials. A Top 10 finish is truly exceptional.

The highlight of the season probably won't be the Provincial experience, nor winning the Rebel Invitational, nor finally bringing LFA a Jr league title, but rather, the friendships that were developed. The banter, laughter, hugs and “snapchatting”, will continue well beyond volleyball and is a reminder of why school athletics are so important to the well-rounded experience.