2016 BCSS Boys’ Volleyball
November 27, 2016 by admin
Filed under Provincial and Territorial News
2016 BCSS BOYS VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS |
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GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
A | Kelowna Christian Knights | Centennial Christian Skyhawks | Richmond Christian Eagles |
AA | Langley Christian School | College Heights SS | Mennonite Education Institute |
AAA | Semiahmoo SS | Kelowna SS | Dover Bay SS |
Kelowna Christian Knights
The 2016 BC “AA” & “AAA” Boys’ Provincial Championship Tournaments will be held at The Langley Events Centre as 36 teams from across BC will compete over 4 days. This is a great opportunity for everyone to come see the best high school volleyball in the province in one place!
Semi wins AAA title in thriller
By Bob Carter Langley
Langley — Michael Dowhaniuk was a killer shark for most of the night, a racehorse at the very end. When his final hit rocketed to the floor, untouched, the Semiahmoo standout sprinted from the net to the end of the gym in glee with teammates in chase.
The second-seeded Totems had beaten season-long No. 1 Kelowna in a tense, well-played, five-set thriller (16-14) for the AAA title at the Big Kahuna BC Volleyball Championships. “It was the best feeling in the world,” said the grade 11 attacker. Saturday’s match was all the near-capacity crowd could have expected: two skilled, hustling teams playing at a high level. Both teams got high-calibre performances from several players in a match that left many drained. Dowhaniuk admitted that he felt weary midway through the final set, when the team’s changed sides with Semi up 8-7. “I just kept breathing for a minute,” he said, “then I was ready to go again.”
With the game tied at 14, Dowhaniuk scored his seventh and eighth points of the set to bring Semi the win. He was quick to point out that he got plenty of help, that the victory was a full team effort. “Our defence and blocking was really important,” Semi coach Maggie Knight said. “Our defence was shifting around the block, and our libero came up big.” Brian Wallack, Adam Paige and Braxton Campbell were among those who delivered key blocks. “They were a huge momentum thing for us,” Dowhaniuk said.
KSS started slowly, falling behind early and never recovering in the first set. “We were really tight,” said Owls coach Mike Sodaro. “Game 1 was not pretty to watch.” The Totems looked loose at the start. “Their movements were so fluid,” Knight said, “and every hit had a purpose.” The match got tougher for Semi soon after as the Owls’ Justin Peleshytyk, Connor White and Spencer Doody got in a better hitting flow.
KSS took the fourth set after it turned a 12-12 tie into a 22-12 lead with a 10-point run. The Owls then jumped ahead 4-1 in the fifth before Dowhaniuk finally prevailed. “It came down to just a few points,” Sodaro said. “It was a good battle.” Unfortunately, the battle ended like his previous three title games (2012-14), in a loss. “I can’t believe it happened a fourth time.” Knight’s reaction to Sodaro’s plight was simply one word: “Brutal.” But Sodaro made no excuses. “You set a high goal, but it’s pretty easy to set them. A lot harder to meet them.” He said the Owls tried plenty of moves to slow Dowhaniuk, but in the end nothing worked good enough. “We tried to serve away from him, we tried to serve to him,” Sodaro said. “But he responded very well, right up to the last hit.”
Langley Christian takes AA Crown
By Bob Carter
Langley — The Langley Christian team had seen College Heights’ defensive prowess earlier in the Big Kahuna BC Volleyball Championships.
The Lightning knew they had to beat that defence to win the AA title match on Saturday night. And they did, claiming the championship in four sets.
LCS started slowly, dropping the first set 25-19 to a College Heights team that had knocked off Langley Fundamental and Pacific Academy, the top seed, to reach the final.
“We had a little bit of jitters,” said AA tournament MVP Brodie Hofer, the son of coach Carol Hofer. “But we got out of it pretty quickly.”
The Lightning came on strong late in the second to win that set 25-22, took a close third 25-23 and pulled away in the fourth for a closing 25-18 victory.
“This is a team that plays good defence,” Brodie Hofer said of College Heights, “but we eventually broke them down.”
Hofer’s power hitting had the most to do with that, and he got help from other hitters like first-team all-star Reid Marriott, Parker Heppell and Christian Christie.
The Lightning rode their team slogan, “90 Days,” all the way to their second BC title in five seasons. The 90 days represented the time span of the first practise up to Dec. 3, championship night.
“We counted down every day,” Brodie Hofer said. “We promised each other we’d do whatever it took to get there.”
The promise wasn’t broken.
Award winners: Nick Hansen of College Heights was a repeat winner, earning the AA Outstanding Libero award. Michael Dowhaniuk was the AAA Most Outstanding player, and Nathan Ziemanski of Dover Bay was the AAA’s top libero.
College Heights’ Ben Shand and setter Graham Walkey were first-team all-stars.