The Kelowna Christian Knights simply couldn’t stop Cecilee Max-Brown.
The 6-foot power hitter turned in a dominant performance to lead White Rock Christian Academy to a three-game sweep of the host Knights in the final of the B.C. high school girls A volleyball championship.
Max-Brown, who is only in Grade 10, was named the tournament’s MVP, leading the second-ranked Warriors past the No. 1 Knights Saturday night at Immaculata.
“She was very hard to defend against,” said KCS coach Dave Bingham. “She just hammered everything they gave to her and was the difference-maker.
“I was surprised at how good (White Rock) was,” he added. “Our girls fought hard, but after the first few points of the match I could tell we were going to be outgunned.”
The Knights, the tournament’s top seed, defeated rival and co-tournament host Immaculata Mustangs 3-1 in the semifinal.
“I’m proud of our girls, they worked really hard,” Bingham said of the Knights who won the Okanagan Valley last title month over Immaculata. “It was tough to lose, but they stuck together until the end. It was a really good year.”
Immaculata saw its run of two straight B.C. titles come to an end.
Still the fourth-ranked Mustangs finished on the podium, defeating Kelowna’s Aberdeen Hall 2-1 for the bronze medal.
Immaculata coach Kasandra Palmer had nothing but praise for her team.
“I am very impressed with the girls and their performance. It would have been nice to be in the final but ending on a winning note is great too,” said Palmer
“If I were to look back to the beginning of the season and someone asked if I would be happy to have a bronze, the answer would be a definitive yes.”
The Knights’ Jessica Regehr was named to the first all-star team, while Tenley Csolle earned second tam honours.
Ashlyn Day of the Mustangs made the first team, while Kate Johnson was a second-team selection.
Reilly Lorenson of the Abdereen Hall Gryphons was a first-team all-star, while Grace Logel made the second team.
