Three West Side senior girls volleyball teams, all ranked in the top 10, landed on the same side of the AAA B.C. championship bracket last week as reaching the final meant beating a neighbourhood rival.
Little Flower Academy, Point Grey and Crofton House — ranked third, sixth and ninth in the last week before playoffs, respectively — clamoured for a spot out of the opening group stage without an upset. The tournament was hosted at Seaquam secondary in Delta Nov. Nov. 28 to 30.
When each team advanced to the same side of the draw, it eliminated the chance of an all-Vancouver final and one would have to knock off the others to reach the semi-final. In the end, the tenth-ranked team from Nanaimo sailed through to win gold.
“Usually there is only one or two teams that are contenders to win it,” said Hounds head coach Zack Mason. “Several other coaches agreed with me that this year any of the top six to seven teams could have taken it and it really came down to who played the best when it counted. The tournament format makes it really difficult to win — it is relatively unforgiving... you just cannot have an off game or lose.”
On Friday morning, Point Grey defeated Clayton Heights to clash in the quarterfinals with Crofton House who’d eliminated Sentinel. The evening match-up was extremely close but the Hounds pulled off a 3-1 win after dropping the first set: 26-28, 25-18, 25-18, 25-20
Mason said Point Grey “played the best volleyball of their season both physically and emotionally” to reach the quarterfinal.
Crofton House, although out of contention for the championship, could finish as high as fifth if they won their next two games.
LFA, the defending 2012 champions, downed Ballenas 3-1 in the cross-over game and met Seaquam in the quarterfinal Friday night. The Angels defeated Seaquam at home last year to win the title and were now in Delta, playing Seaquam in their home gym.
The Angels won the first set but Seaquam rebounded to take three straight, winning 21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-13.
Placed on the consolation side of the bracket, Little Flower and Crofton House both looked to end their season with a couple of wins. Crofton House came out on top, defeating the Angels at North Delta secondary 22-25, 26-24, 15-5.
Crofton House won one final game to finish fifth overall, and Little Flower Academy lost a second match to finish eighth.
The Point Grey Hounds prepped to play Seaquam, a back-to-back provincial champion in 2010 and ’11, now hosting the tournament in front of their raucous fans.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to hold on to the momentum,” said Mason. “Seaquam was a very tough, well-coached team with fantastic defence and ball control. This was clearly the most difficult loss for us because going into it, we knew if we performed well we had a solid chance to win it and coming out of it, we knew we had let it get away from us.”
Seaquam won in four sets: 25-12, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20. They advanced to the finals and lost in five intense sets to Nanaimo.
Point Grey next played College Heights for third place.
“Our team managed a valiant effort in the bronze medal match despite being deflated and drained from the semifinal loss,” said Mason.
“It was great for me as a coach to see them win a set 31-29 by playing competitively, aggressively and with great composure to the final point despite the pressure and frantic atmosphere that comes in that type of finish.”
Point Grey lost 25-15, 31-29, 15-7. They finish fourth overall, a jump from last year’s eighth place.
“Cracking the top four at this tournament is a really difficult feat to accomplish so I am really proud of our team’s performance and placing. It was a strong way to end a great season,” said Mason.
Point Grey rightside hitter and Grade 11 student Taeya Page was named to the first all-star team.
Madison Cote-Dear of Crofton House and Tehlana Durity-Wingson of LFA were named to the second all-star team.
Twitter.com/MHStewart
