The Alberni Airborne club volleyball team wanted to take their game to the next level and they did, coach Julie Anderson said.
The airborne placed seventh at the B.C. Volleyball Championship Tournament in Abbotsford last weekend.
“They were shakey at first but after that they hit their stride and were unstoppable,” Anderson said.
The team had a case of nerves on day one and lost their first games but they re-grouped and brought their A-game on day two.
The team played three games on Saturday, winning two and losing one. The loss was tough yet was a win. “It was a dog fight,” Anderson said.
The team played neck-and-neck with their opponent, a Lower Mainland team whose name Anderson couldn’t recall. “The girls rallies were extreme and they brought it all — blocking, digging, hitting — they really pulled it together,” Anderson said.
Anderson subbed in some players to break the other team’s servers and the move helped the pace their opponent.
The airborne’s Karissa Pley and Taylor Young gave the team a boost with key plays. “They spanked one hard down the pipe and Karissa nailed it with a dig,” Anderson said.
“And Taylor was just electric with her spikes and blocks.”
In the end the other team prevailed but it was close. “It boiled down to them just putting the ball on our end of the floor a couple of more times than we did theirs,” Anderson said.
“It doesn’t matter that they lost. They still won because they played so well.”
The airborne felt it was ready for something more. “They pulled it off last weekend so they are,” Anderson said.
Dig’s and kills…Airborne players are helping coach a series of clinics at AW Neill on Friday’s after school for elementary age players.
reporter@albernvialleynews.com
