Great expectations didn’t even enter the thoughts of Chemainus players and coach Andrew Easson heading into the provincial A senior boys’ high school volleyball championships last month at Abbotsford Christian.
They were just happy to be there.
“I think the wishful thinking was that we would finish in the top eight,’’ said Easson. “Realistically, just not last.’’
And Chemainus attained the latter goal by placing 11th in the 12-team event after winning its final match over Carver Christian 25-23, 23-25, 15-7.
“It was a great experience,’’ said Easson, who did a rapid-fire assembly to get a team ready for the Island tournament that it won to advance to provincials without the benefit of a league game.
“It was a good learning experience for all of our guys,’’ said Zach Diewert, one of just three players from the 10-member squad who’s graduating. “Chemainus doesn’t have much provincial experience … I loved it, even though we got kicked around a bit.’’
Chemainus started with an 8-25, 9-25 loss against Mount Sentinel.
“That was our first match and the guys were fairly overwhelmed by the experience,’’ said Easson.
After that, the players settled down and put up a good fight against highly-regarded Credo Christian, losing 19-25, 20-25.
“It made us feel like we could compete against them, almost beating the top seed,’’ said Diewert.
Credo went on to place fourth, and host Abbotsford Christian finished first.
Chemainus rounded out pool play with losses against Fernie (14-25, 22-25), Kelowna Christian 25-19, 17-25, 5-15 and Bulkley Valley 16-25, 16-25. In consolation play, Chemainus fell to Cedars Christian 18-25, 18-25 before its big win over Carver.
“We had a great group of guys,’’ said Diewert. “We didn’t have the most skills, but we had a lot of heart.’’
“For having four weeks before the provincials when the season actually started, to go through provincials and actually compete with some of these teams was an accomplishment,’’ added Easson.
