The East Kootenay Volleyball Club U18 girls team won gold this past weekend at the 2017 Volleyball Canada National Championship tournament in Edmonton, Alberta.
Putting up a perfect 9-0 record through round robin and playoff play, the EKVC Avalanche won the Tier 2 tourney handily on Sunday, ending a terrific season of spring volleyball.
The team did not lose a single set in their three preliminary games against the Forest City Volleyball Club Green team (London, Ontario), the Apex Avalanche (Vancouver, BC), and the Lethbridge Volleyball Club Junior Kodiaks.
In the playoffs, the Avs played in a pair of 2-1 nailbiters with a 15-3 third set win against the Mavericks (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and a 15-12 third set victory over Team Academy (Surrey, BC).
In their final match, the Avalanche defeated the Central Peace Panthers (Spirit River, Alberta) 2-0 with 25-22 and 26-24 set wins.
The team was led by head coach Hayley Hills and featured players Morgan Charlton, Brooke Lightburn, Alaina Weltz, Dryden Gris, Katie Anderson, Natalie Tepper, Brooke Janzer, Alyssa McElhinney, Janine Harach, Hali Jones, and Mariah Prust.
Charlton, Harach, and Lightburn have all committed to playing for the local College of the Rockies Avalanche PACWEST volleyball program in 2017-18.
The Tier 1 champions at the U18 Nationals were the 403 Selects (Calgary, Alberta). Tier 3 was won by the Cats (Brandon, Manitoba) and Tier 4 was won by Sky Blue (Vernon, BC).
The U18 girls are one of four EKVC teams playing in national tournaments this month. The U15 girls will be in Regina, Saskatchewan starting on May 19 for the Canada West tournament, the U16 boys will be in Calgary, Alberta on May 19 for the Canada West tournament, and the U17 Invermere boys will be in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on May 19 for the National Championships.
