The Kootenay Bombers Ladies and Nelson Knights Men’s volleyball club teams left it all on the runway at last weekend’s Volleyball BC under-17/18 provincials in Richmond.
Seventy two teams and over 1,000 athletes, refs and spectators took in the tourney, which was held at the giant Richmond Olympic Oval.
The Bombers went undefeated in Saturday’s first day of Division Two play. But hopes of a medal crash landed when the ladies met West Vancouver, a team that normally plays in the province’s top division.
“West Van’s defence outplayed us,” said Bomber’s coach Staci Proctor. “They dug every ball, their service reception was better and we had some unforced errors.”
“So that was an unfortunate loss in the quarters, but they are a Div One team. That said, I think we could have done better than we did overall.”
The Bombers ended up sixth.
The Courtney/Comox Island Drive club won the Div Two ladies championships and Kelowna’s Energy Fire club won Div One.
On the men’s side, provincial all-star and L.V. Roger’s Grade 12 Tanner Jackson led the Knights to a sixth-place finish in Div Two in a final tilt against the Maple Ridge Cougars. The Knights had one win and two losses in the first round. The Fraser Valley Ducks won the Div Two crown while the Abbotsford Cascades Peaks took Div One.
With the provincials behind them, the team has set its sights on the nationals, which run in Edmonton May 19-22. To help cover costs for the 11-hour intra-provincial tourney journey, there’ll be an all-ages fundraiser volleyball tournament and concession at L.V. Rogers on Saturday, May 11.
Cost for the Bombers all-ages tournament is $25 a player. Email Staci.Proctor@sd8.bc.ca for registration and info.