Time to serve up some volleyball this week, as we catch up on results from competitions at both the elementary and secondary school levels…
We’ll start with the younger age group, as playoff pennants were presented to the top four bantam (born 1997-98) boys’ and girls’ teams following regular season competition. Actually two separate sets of playoffs were held, based on the population of the schools taking part.
For teams from larger local schools with a population of more than 275 students, Mountain View Elementary was the big winner this season, capturing first place in both the bantam boys’ and girls’ playoffs.
Donna Gannon co-ordinated the large school bantam boys’ schedule this year. Following league play, playoffs wrapped up with a final four round-robin tournament hosted at North Cedar Intermediate. At that tournament, the entry from Mountain View coached by Linda French and Mike Ball captured the district title. On the championship team were players Josh Burgmann, Kenny Jeong, Bryce Kosak, Derek Richmond, Jeff Webb, Izak Camp, Jason Clare, Sam Harder, Eli LaFrance, Niklas Lindstrom, Tyler Olson, Hayden Orr, Broedey Pomeroy, Brendon Prince, Sachin Sharma and Owen Yarocki.
Runners-up at the tournament were the McGirr team of Cole Johnston, Cole Saunderson, Jordan Smith, Bernhard Gutsche, Jamie Largue, Adam Humphreys, Dylan Ferguson, Tyler Walsh, John Dial and Carter Peace. Coach for the group was Tanya Peace.
In third place came the boys’ team from Pleasant Valley. Representing their school were players Tyler Lucente, Travis Kentrop, Curtis Grossett, Dylan Coghlan, Benjamin Davies, Greg McAdie, Noah Hooper, Eric Grossett, Ryan Gillard, Graham Louwers, Cameron Stewart, Aidan Evans, Conrad Nash, Seth Rose, Dayton Bortolotto and Conner Mowatt. Coach for the squad was Jan Kennedy.
As mentioned, Mountain View also emerged victorious in bantam girls’ volleyball for larger elementary schools, claiming the crown following a six-team round-robin playoff hosted at Forest Park. Darren Brick coached the championship team, with players Megan Doumont, Marissa Stritzel, Sydney Wilson, Amelia Kazanowski, Lelaina Neufeld, Aurora Jepson, Adrianna Coronica, Michelle Palmer, Kassidy Gosling, Brooke Wright and Jaden Cooke.
Second place in the district went to the host Forest Park team coached by Bernadette Kulai. On the court for their school were players Ashley Armitage, Keira Christensen, Renae Christensen, Taylor Fergusson, Serenity Hempstock, Ebony Jepson, Delaney Madisen-James, Harleen Sandhu, Denise Skolny, Taylor Soles, Ashley Mckinnon, Coral Bell, Justice Eisener, Dakota Green and Win-Lee Abalos.
As they had in the boys’ playoffs, athletes from Pleasant Valley Elementary placed third in bantam girls’ volleyball. Wes Lazaroff coached the team that was comprised of Danielle Balla, Hayley Noshkin, Kelsey Kalk, Claire Liptrot, Montana Kish, Laura Wicks, Jade Burnand, Natalie Reynolds, Lexy Antonenko, Kelsi Kuemper, Sierra Shelton, Larissa Fellows, Chanelle Herrara and Nicole Harris.
At the secondary level, a number of local volleyball teams had fine seasons this year. Among them was the Dover Bay Dolphins senior AAAA girls’ squad coached by Dave Nelson. The Dolphins won the Island championship and then earned seventh place at the provincials. The Nanaimo District Secondary Islanders girls’ team coached by Gary Maitland placed third in their Island playoffs, then 12th at the provincials.
Also noteworthy was the volleyball program at Cedar Secondary this year. The Cedar Grade 8 girls’ team and junior girls’ teams both placed first in their respective district championships. Meanwhile, the Cedar Spartans senior A girls’ team won the Island title, then went on to place a strong second at provincials in addition to being named the most sportsmanlike team. Bill Rounis coached the team, assisted by Selena Riley. Players were Courtney Mah, Svenja Tschek, Megan Newton, Cathy Schleuter, Kelsay Low, Frances Bonkowski, Breanna Dorman-Banks, Ashley Gates, Sara Kaiwi, Alysha Hutt, Megan Cawthorne, Island all-star Alexa Ellis, B.C. all-star Alicia Stone and Island MVP and B.C. all-star Trisha Randen.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.
Ian Thorpe writes about sports Saturdays.
