The Comox Valley Strikers U15 Boys Volleyball team have a lot to be proud of after a successful weekend at the Lower Mainland Super Series Event.
The team placed first in the competition, which took place in Burnaby. A Super Series is a Youth Club Event where Teams of each age category compete against each other for Provincial Championships Seeding. There are three events across the province: one for the Okanagan region in Penticton, one for the Island in Victoria and one for the Lower Mainland in Burnaby. The teams are seeded into Provincials based on their top two finishes. Since there are 30 teams in all, Volleyball BC splits them into two divisions.
"We didn't compete in Okanagan, but we finished in 12th in division 1 when we competed in Victoria and now we won division 2, and we are currently seeded 17th in B.C. for Provincials," an email from head coach Taciana Segatto Moreira says.
The team played two playoff games on Saturday, taking on Hustle VC from Vancouver (Set 1: 25-20 / Set 2: 25-15) and Kelowna VC (Set 1: 25-17 / Set 2: 25-20). They also played a crossover match against Air Attack Black from Richmond (Set 1: 25-17 / Set 2: 25-8).
The team then played quarters against Genesis Phoenix from Kelowna (Set 1:25-14 / Set 2: 25-15). That game was on Sunday.
The playoffs continued on Sunday, with games against Victoria VC Dawn (Set 1:25-9 / Set 2: 25-23).
We had an easy win on the first set, and the boys played so well that even the players on the other team were smiling and amazed with our performance," Segatto Moreira said. "One of them even high-fived Jordan Gilroy, our captain, during the game after he got an amazing kill.
"In the second set, they came back to the court with a different energy, really wanting to take us to tie break, but our team persevered and although we were neck to neck, we took the last two points, winning the match," she said. "A lot of boys from other teams came to our court to watch us play and cheer for us as well."
The team took on Pacific Coast Volleyball Club (Set 1: 25-15 / Set 2: 25-23) for the finals. They finished a tight and electrifying game under pressure.
"PCVC is a great team with some tall and skilled athletes," Segatto Moreira said. "The first set we dominated, but the second set they also had an extra fire to fight for the gold medal. But our boys had patience, played smart and kept their teamwork, winning the final point with a block from John Paul Fraser."
The team was awarded with a "Club Champions Volleyball BC" shirt, to go along with their gold medals.
