Bombers, Knights each finish sixth at Volleyball BC Club championships
By Contributor
The Kootenay Bombers Ladies and Nelson Knights Men’s Volleyball club teams left it all on the runway at last weekend’s Volleyball BC U17/U18 Provincials in Richmond.
Seventy two teams and over 1,000 athletes, refs and spectators took in the tourney, which was held at the giant Richmond Olympic Oval, right across the Fraser River from the Vancouver airport.
The Bombers went undefeated in Saturday’s first day of Division Two play. But hopes of a medal crash landed when the ladies met West Vancouver, a team that normally plays in the province’s top division.
The West Van defence was tighter than spaces at the Oval’s jam-packed parkade, and the ladies’ inability to convert more costly than than the 89-buck tickets handed out to mischievous motorists who tried to avoid pay-to-stays.
“West Van’s defence outplayed us,” says Bomber’s coach Staci Proctor. “They dug every ball, their service reception was better and we had some unforced errors.”
“So that was an unfortunate loss in the quarters, but they are a Division One team. That said, I think we could have done better than we did overall.”
The Bombers finished in sixth spot.
The Courtney/Comox Island Drive club won the Division Two ladies championships. Kelowna’s Energy Fire club won Division One.
On the men’s side, provincial all-star and LV Roger’s Grade 12 Tanner Jackson led the Knights to a sixth-place finish in Division Two in a final tilt against the Maple Ridge Cougars. The Knights had one win and two losses in the first round.
The Fraser Valley Ducks won the Division Two crown. The Abbotsford Cascades Peaks won Division One.
With the provincials behind them, the team has set its sights on the nationals, which run in Edmonton May 19-22.
To help cover costs for the 11-hour intra-provincial tourney journey, the club teams are hosting an all-ages fundraiser volleyball tournament and concession at the L.V. Rogers gymnasium, Saturday, May 11.
Cost for the Bombers all-ages tournament is $25 a player. E-mail staci.Proctor@sd8.bc.ca for registration and info.
