Led by star Grade 11 students, Harriet Hess and Sasha Meshcherekova, the Churchill Bulldogs defended their senior girls volleyball city championship with a 3-1 win over the Lord Byng Grey Ghosts at Van Tech secondary on Nov. 4.
The win comes in spite of the Bulldogs playing without core players who graduated last year, said Hess.
“I miss the girls from last year so much but I’m so glad we can bring it home again,” said the middle hitter, singling out Tova Rae and setter Eloise Faehndrich.
Read about the 2015 championship final
“It was really tough team that we played tonight. They are very strong so all I can do is stop the ball and stop them from them hitting it so hard at our defence and I think I did my job well tonight. I owe it to my team and my setter for setting me some amazing balls.”
The Ghosts stole a game from the Bulldogs earlier in the season, but the repeat champs grew stronger out of the loss and worked hard to neutralize Lord Byng’s strong hitters such as Katarina Pantovic and Julia Moore.
“They were hitting amazing tonight and we had to modify our defence,” said Hess. “They have such good hitters.”
“They definitely improved, and we have too,” said Lord Byng setter Katie Anne Reimer. “They were both tight games and it could have gone either way. It’s hard to lose, but it’s just fun getting to play. It’s good to be in those close games because you learn a lot even when you don’t come out on top as you want to.”
The game started on unsure footing for the eventual champs as the Dogs made unforced errors on their way to losing the first set 25-14.
The second set started similarly but this time Churchill gained and held the lead. Meshcherekova's sharp-angled, dipping serves put Lord Byng off balance and proved a timely weapon through the championship final.
She had two aces and served for six points to hand Churchill a 15-6 lead when Lord Byng called a time out. The Bulldogs answered their first-set loss by reversing the score to win 25-14.
Lord Byng coach Craig Moore praised Churchill’s depth. “They are super consistent,” he said. “Nothing is free when you play Churchill.”
The third set was the highlight of the match and showed how close the two finalists were. To highlight the point, both teams wore almost identical red jerseys.
The teams fought through long rallies with dramatic digs and big bangs at the net as both sides showed impressive stuff all over the court.
The game was tied 20 times as the teams kept pace from the outset. The largest lead was two points when the score was 4-2 for Lord Byng. The Ghosts twice battled to set point but the Bulldogs fought it. They scored two straight points, and with Meshcherekova serving again, Lord Byng absorbed the force but not enough to muster an effective counter-attack. Churchill won the set 28-26 and a 2-1 lead in a game that had already lasted 90 minutes.
“I trust myself with my serve,” said five-foot-11 Meshcherekova of her jump serve. “I tried to hit hard and hit deep and hoped that it would shank off their arms and it seemed to work tonight.
Churchill won the fourth set 25-16 with none other than Meshcherekova serving the championship point.
“I’m so proud that we pulled it out and it feels so good to come back strong again,” she said between taking pictures with her teammates holding the 2016 championship banner.
The Killarney Cougars beat the host Van Tech Talismen 3-2 to finish third overall. Magee shut out Kitsilano 3-0 to finish fifth.
