This weekend saw the first of Volleyball BC’s two 2013 Provincial Championships – with over 200 teams competing over the two weekends.
The full results of the tournaments are now available online here. Don’t miss the great selection available on the Volleyball BC Facebook page; thank you to Derek Stevens at www.SportFoto.ca and Charmaine Schmalz at Ingenz Photography!
In the 14U Girls Division 1, early favourites Hindy / Van Ryk suffered a disappointing set back after a nasty injury in the quarters – we wish Kiera a speedy recovery! This left the competition wide open at the semi final stage; Side Out’s Klassen / Shocohian overcame 13U team Boughen / Gamache on the feature court to set up a final with Ducks’ Nagy / Harris, who had previously beaten Huberts / Marazzi in their semi. An excellent match followed and it was Indoor Provincial Champions (Ducks Bryan) players Nagy / Harris who added the Beach title to their collection! Watch out for Klassen / Shochian at Beach Nationals later this month though – already indoor Canadian West champions with Seaside Wahine, they look strong to challenge on the Beach. In Division 2, first place went to Metzner / O’Reilly (more success for the Ducks!), second to Konradova / Rosenrauch and third to Goodridge / Molnar.
The 14U and 16U Boys were dominated by Frasey Valley based Action volleyball with the podiums a sea of neon yellow and blue! In the 14U Boys, top ranked team Kott / Teasdale didn’t falter taking the title in a tight game against Bargen / Loewen. Having largely played up this season, the tough competition had worked for Coltyn Liu who took the bronze with partner John Colobong in his actual 14U age category. The 16U Boys competition was the biggest yet at Youth Beach Provincials with 29 teams registered (more than the girls’ competition!) and drew big numbers of spectators to enjoy the thrilling rallys and big dives! Favorites were Koslowsky / Loewen, fresh off their ClearlyContacts.ca Open win, and they held on to take the title with some spectacular pick ups and keeping errors at a minimum. However, they were pushed all the way by Gamache / Johnson in the semi and then Faester / Lee in the final, with Justin Faester hitting some huge kills in particular.
The 16U Girls saw another large (27 teams) and impressive competition with some new partnerships and players moving between age groups. There were no upsets in pool play with favorites Birker / Fayad in particular making quick work of their earlier matches. In the Playoffs, eventual bronze medalists Breukels / Clarke played an exceptional day of volleyball, defeating first ClearlyContacts.ca Open champions Dunn / Neil, then after their semi final loss to Birker / Fayad, overcoming Keturakis / Scholz to take third, overturning their Saturday defeat to the same team. In the final game on feature court, unbeaten in 2013 Birker / Fayad faced new partnership Dufour / O’Reilly, both of whom had moved back down to the 16U category after playing with older partners during the main season. Despite some excellent rallies from Dufour / O’Reilly, Birker / Fayad stayed strong, held their lead and edged the final 2-0. The team represent an excellent chance for BC gold at the upcoming Nationals and gave the Okanagan and Island regions respectively their top Provincials finishes.
Both 18U Girls and 18U Boys’ competitions were of an extremely high standard, with several teams competing also playing regularly on the adult circuit during the 2013 season. In the 18U Girls, with past champions McNamara / McNamara now playing adult only – it was a tough battle between fellow pro-teams, several of whom also play Team BC beach. The final lined up as Pantovic / Stone and Maglio / Ramsden, the former having already won a long 3 set match up the previous day in Pool Play. Late in the afternoon on the feature court, it was Team BC and Side Out’s Chloe Stone who held her nerve to control the final (winning 21-18, 21-13), setting up big hitting partner Sara and making some excellent shots into the space on her opponent’s court despite the tough blocking put up by Emily Maglio.
The 18U Boys finals was a huge clash between top Okanagan team Anderson / Mend who had impressed at the ClearlyContacts.ca Open qualifiers and new pairing Irvan Brar (FVVC) and Liam Birker (Kelowna). After a tough semi against Dichuk / Thompson, Anderson / Mend perhaps looked a little tired and struggled to deal with Brar’s huge jump serves. Big support from the travelling Okanagan supporters helped them rally, but in the end Birker / Brar were clinical in defence and at the net, easing to a 21-17, 21-14 victory. With sister Quinci winning the 16U later, we hope the Birker family left plenty of room for prizes in the car on the way back!
The following weekend the 13U Girls, 15U Boys and Girls and 17U Boys and Girls competed at Parksville Beach, Vancouver Island.
16U Bronze medalists Gamache / Johnson repeated their strong performance, winning the 15U Boys category after performing so well in the older age group. Behie/Chase won the 17U girls category, winning hte gold medal meatch over Dunn/Neil. Kepler/Stong took the 15U girls title over Keturakis/ Scholz. In the 13U girls division, Gamache/Boughen took the title over Holborne/Purdy and in the 17U boys division Harer/Kazanowski took the gold over Calvin/Maclean
18U Boys Provincials Medalists: Gold: Birker / Brar, Silver: Mend / Anderson, Bronze: Dichuk / Thompson