Brooks Secondary School grade eight girls’ volleyball team, playing as the Powell River Aces, competed in the Canadian Open Volleyball Championships from May 10 to 12 at Tradex in Abbotsford. Team Aces played a total of nine matches against teams from across Western Canada in pursuit of gold.
Coaches Doug Skinner and Jay Yule knew the Aces had both the skill and ability to win gold, but the competition was going to be tough. To be successful, each and every player would have to play her best. Teams travelled from as far away as Ontario and Yukon to compete in this event.
Matches Friday saw Aces defeat all three opponents: Demons Red, Kamloops (25-11, 25-7), Force, Surrey (25-22, 25-27, 15-13) and Rain City, Surrey (25-21, 25-21). With their confidence growing, the girls went into Saturday’s matches winning their opening two against Selkirk, Manitoba (25-18, 17-25, 15-4) and OVC, Alberta (22-25, 25-15, 15-7). Their first, and only loss, came late Saturday when they faced a strong digging team, the Nooks from Alberta. The girls battled hard but lost in three sets (23-25, 25-23, 14-16). Aces were now second in their pool.
Sunday’s matches saw Aces take on Rain City again for the start of the medal round. The winner of this match would move on while the losing team would go home. Aces came out hitting and with strong play, defeated Rain City in two straight (25-10, 25-21). Aces were on the way to the semifinals.
The second match Sunday decided which team went on to play for gold. In a nail-biter, Aces defeated their opponent NAVC, from Edmonton, Alberta in two sets (25-10, 25-20) with play going back and forth as each team battled to move on. Again, Aces fought hard and with terrific teamwork won, earning a trip to the championship final.
Following their success against NAVC, the girls had to run to the next court where play in the gold medal match began almost immediately. Skinner called his girls off the court from warm-up to rest as much as they could before the big match against Selkirk, Manitoba. Aces were determined. On a roll, Aces quickly won their first set decisively 25-15. Set two was a battle and Aces lost 23-25. The girls, however, would not be beaten. In the third and deciding set, Aces won 15-12. Tears pooled and off they ran to the gold medal and banner presentation.
The Powell River under 14 girls’ Aces volleyball team is the 2013 Division Two Canadian Open Volleyball Champion.
Team members are Claudia Piccinin, Melinda Boyd, Kate Fisher, Katie Tuba, Tyana Sacree, Hope Lechner, Maddie Yule, Sylena Romanyshyn, Amelia Vincent, Paige Lawson, Lauren Mander, Meggan Skorey, Kayla Reed, Chloe Elzer, Matilda Bertrand. Trainer is Amy Jensen.
