The Kelowna Christian Knights brushed back the Kalamalka Lakers 2-0 (25-7, 25-14) in Saturday’s final of the Fulton Maroons Senior Girls Volleyball Tournament.
The VSS Panthers defeated South Kam Titans 2-0 (25-18, 25-18) in the consolation final.
Fulton swept Sa-Hali 2-0 (26-24, 25-15) to finish fifth, while the Valleyview Vikings of Kamloops were seventh and Prince George placed eighth.
“Overall, I was pleased with the performance of my team,” said Fulton head coach Sharon Shaigec. “We played well and beat the teams I knew we should take, almost knocked off VSS in pool play, struggled in our quarterfinal match against Kal and then finished on a winning note against Sa-Hali.”
Shaigec was thrilled to see super fans and retired officials/coaches Denis and Barb Murdoch at the gym.
“Mr. and Mrs. Volleyball took in the high level of volleyball action throughout the tourney. They have yet to miss the Fulton Tournament.”
The Okanagan Valley Championships go Nov. 16-17 at VSS. There is one berth to AAA provincial playdowns hosted by Crofton House and Little Flower Academy in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, the Vernon Christian School Royals senior boys placed fourth in the nine-team Prince George Polars tournament.
In Friday pool play, the Royals stopped both the Kelly Road Roadrunners of Prince George and Mackenzie Sabres in straight sets with Jake Thiessen coming off the bench to serve four aces and supply four digs.
On Saturday, the Royals swept Houston Christian Wildcats before falling in three sets to the D.P. Todd Trojans of Prince George. Libero Luke Wolgram provided solid passing in the loss.
In the playoff round, the Royals used a strong outside attack from Sam Koch and brilliant blocking down the middle from both Adam Ensing and Travis Hoogland to stop the Polars 2-0 (25-18, 25-17).
Vernon Christian then bowed 2-1 to the Caledonia Kermodes before falling 2-0 to the Trojans in the bronze-medal match.
Koch and Hoogland led the attack all weekend with 22 kills apiece. Setter Aaron Spence distributed the ball well, garnering praise from other coaches, and chipped in with four kills. Ryan Price paced the Royals in serve aces with five, and also had 12 digs.
Hoogland also provided five solo blocks while Ensing supplied four.
Zac Dubland resumed his strong performance from the right side with several block assists and five kills for the weekend.
Reuben Smid and Sasha Skrinnikoff filled in well from the bench with fine blocking and hitting from both sides.
“The team played well considering they had to play five matches on Saturday, three being in a row in the playoffs,” said Royals’ coach Chris Bannick.
“The other teams from the other pool we faced were well rested, and fresh. Still, I am very proud of their performance this weekend.”
