The Seaton Sonics struck silver in the Princess Margaret Mustang Mania Junior Boys Volleyball tournament Saturday in Penticton.
It was an eight-team pre-Valley tournament with representation from all zones with the Kelowna Owls stopping Seaton 2-0 (25-14, 25-23) in the finals.
The Sonics, who struggled with poor serve-receive in the first game, made the Owls work for the second win.
Vernon brushed back the Summerland Rockets 2-1 (25-27, 25-22, 15-) in the semifinals with setter Ronan Bedard serving seven points in a row to stake Seaton to an early 7-1 lead in Game 1.
“That was a pretty exciting match, said Seaton head coach Richard Bedard. “It was high-calibre volleyball for this age group. Ty Louie (game MVP) had a fantastic game with solid passing and hitting and the boys did well in their respective positions and didn’t dial down the intensity. The digging by Owen and Carter was unreal.”
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On the first day, the Sonics went 2-1 with solid wins against the Hornets (25-10, 25-14) and the host Mustangs (25-17, 25-22). Their loss came to the Owls (25-14, 25-19). Player of the Games went to Owen Sunderland, Jack Ternan and Hakan Akkurt.
In the crossover match, the Sonics grounded the Pen-Hi Lakers (2-1) 25-15, 12-25, 15-11. Player of the Game was Carter Scott.
The Sonics visit Revelstoke for league play Thursday night with the regular season wrapping up Thursday, Nov. 1 at Kal Secondary.
Meanwhile, the VSS Grade 8 girls finished second in the St. Ann’s Academy tournament in Kamloops.
Sa-Hali A exacted their revenge for a loss in pool play by defeating the Cats 2-0 in the final. Beth Butler played strong in the final on both offence and defence.
“It was close throughout but their serving was just too much for us and we weren’t able to string enough points together to catch them,” said VSS head coach Mike Bertram. “Overall, the girls played great volleyball all weekend playing some tough opponents and show great promise for the rest of the season. Lauren Hoard was a serving beast all weekend, Kylie Lightfoot was the top defensive player and Libby Hampshire and Beth Butler took their games to a new level.”
The Panthers toppled the Sa-Hali B Sabres of Kamloops 2-1 in the semifinals with Hoard and Deboar delivering big kills out of the middle off of stellar sets by Lightfoot, Curtis and Hampshire.
VSS knocked off the Valleyview B Vikings of Kamloops 2-0 in the quarterfinals with Sierra Fernley serving eight straight points to get them out to an early lead. Dennica Paull played dynamic defence, making perfect passes which turned into kills.
The Cats started the round-robin with a 2-1 win over the Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops.
Jarett Molitwenik pocketed some nice kills out of the middle hitter position off great sets from Amy Curtis.
Next up was a 2-1 win over the Merritt Panthers with excellent serving turned in by Maddie Hackman and Taylor Deboer.
The Panthers then stunning Sa-Hali A 2-1 with Hoard serving bombs all match long and Lightfoot making gorgeous passes to jumpstart the offence. The Panthers ended the round-robin with a loss to Valleyview A but still finished first in their pool. Hampshire made great decisions as setter varying between sets and tips, while Zion White made some clutch serves to keep it close.
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