The Kelowna KaPow U18 boys volleyball squad turned in a solid effort at the Super Series tournament last weekend in Kelowna, winning a bronze medal.
Team KaPow, from the Kelowna Volleyball Club, finished first in its pool, then defeated Kelowna’s U17 Kracken in the first round of the playoffs.
In the semifinals, KaPow put up a fight before going down to defeat against a dominant Agoge team from the Fraser Valley, 25-22 and 25-23.
In the bronze medal match, Kelowna rebounded for a 2-1 victory over the Vernon Sky team.
KaPow coach Paul Thiessen was happy with the overall results.
“We finished with a 5-1 record and we manage to give all players lots of playing, this was good for player development and made for lots of close matches,” said Thiessen. “We now know that we have improved our standing since last years finish and we are among to the top two or three teams in the province. Now the hard work begins to close the gap and improve the most obvious weak areas of our game.”
Thiessen said Devon Cote and Spencer Kingzett provided great passing and attacks, while Sam Parks and Thomas Anton were dominant blocking and hitting out of the middle.
He added that Eli Risso, Tanner Thiessen and Tyson Meraw shared setting duties throughout the event and “did a great job learning to run our new offense.
“Liberos Ryan Bednard and Riley Berthaudin were solid all weekend on defense, and backup utility guys Oliver Wicklund and Ethan Elliott were awesome at coming in playing multiple roles as blockers, hitters and serving specialists. Nice way to open the season KaPow.”
