The Fulton Maroons will lead the Okanagan into the B.C. Championships after they won the Valley Senior AAA girls volleyball crown last weekend in Armstrong.
Fulton stopped the Vernon Panthers 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-12, 25-20) in the gold-medal game to advance to provincials, Dec. 1-3 at Ballenas Secondary in Parksville.
The Maroons, the defending B.C. champs, enter provincials ranked No. 6. The Panthers also advance to the Parksville tourney.
In preliminary play, the Maroons swept both tournament host Pleasant Valley Sinners (25-9, 25-11) and Okanagan Mission Huskies (25-11, 25-20). In Saturday’s semifinal, the Maroons defeated the George Elliott Coyotes of Lake Coutnry 2-0 (25-13, 25-17).
Fulton’s Kolby Richter was named to the tournament all-star team, while Hana Ouchi collected tournament MVP.
“The girls had a solid weekend, showing composure and focus with a definite goal of winning and ultimately qualifying for provincial championships,” said Fulton head coach Sharon Shaigec.
Additional Maroon standouts include power hitter Christie Allen, who is peaking at the right time, and rookie Jacqueline Banks, who filled in defensively for injured captain Laura Rozka.
Ouchi and Richter were a continuous threat from the middle offensively, while setter Kelli Watson ran a varied attack. Danielle Olson, Alana Young, Allie Sheehan and Jessica Houghton provided accurate passing, powerful hits and tough serving to close out games for the Maroons.
Shaigec credited assistant coach Landon Orr for developing the girls’ passing technique and defensive skills.
In junior girls court action, the Kalamalka Lakers ranked third at the Valleys last weekend at Seaton gym.
The Lakers, who grounded the Revelstoke Rams to take the North Zone title a week earlier, swept the South Kamloops Titans and Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton to open the tourney Friday. They came up a little flat on serve receive and fell to the Kelowna Christian Knights in their final Friday match to place second in the pool.
In Saturday-morning cross-over play, Kal iced Immaculata Mustangs of Kelowna in straight sets, but fell to Penticton’s Pen-Hi Lakers in the semis.
Kal rebounded in the bronze-medal game, bouncing the Vernon Panthers 2-1 (20-25, 25-21, 15-12) to end the season on a high note.
Megan Squair and Jordon Korol were solid all weekend, with every other team member chipping in throughout the weekend.
Kelowna Christian defeated Pen-Hi in the final.
