Rick Stiebel/News Gazette staff
The Belmont senior girls volleyball team took a huge leap toward their goal of repeating as provincial champions on the weekend. The Bulldogs earned the top seed for the finals with straight set wins over Oak Bay by scores of 25-9, 25-16 and 25-12. The provincials, which are set for Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 at the Langley Event Centre, will include the top 16 high school teams in the province.
Hosting the weekend tournament was definitely a plus, said Belmont coach Mike Toakley. “Getting to play in front of your fans on your home court makes the effort more worthwhile when you come through with the win,” he noted. Belmont’s Savannah Purdy was named tournament MVP.
“One of the positives with earning the top seed is that we won’t have to face the number two, three or four teams at the start of the tournament,” Toakley explained. Earl Marriott Secondary from Surrey, Handsworth Secondary from North Vancouver and Semiahmoo Secondary from Surrey are ranked second, third and fourth respectively. “Providing we advance, we wouldn’t have to face them until the medal round.”
There are no easy games, however, Toakley cautioned. “We have to take care of business in the first round. All of the teams have earned their way to the tournament.”
Toakley said the team set its sights on repeating as champions from the outset of this season. “It’s nice to win tournaments along the way, but getting back to the provincials and repeating as champions has been our goal since day one. It’s always been in the back of our minds.”
Although the junior girls volleyball team didn’t enjoy the same success, coach Ken Lowe said he was pleased with what the team accomplished.
The junior Bulldogs fell to Claremont Secondary in the quarter finals, just missing out by one place in a tiebreaker for the fifth seed from Vancouver Island. “At the beginning of the year we were a low-level team,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of how we improved during the course of the year. The tournament was full of close, hard-fought games against much more experienced teams and we couldn’t quite get it done.”