2022 HIGH SCHOOL BOY’S PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONS CROWNED

Posted on Dec 7, 2022

AAA PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

They finally got their chance to host and they didn’t disappoint.

The Kelowna Secondary School Owls have captured their second consecutive BCSS ‘AAA’ Boys Volleyball Provincial Championship.

Last year, KSS was supposed to host the championship, but because of November 2021’s catastrophic atmospheric river event, it was moved to the Lower Mainland. Despite having to fly out at the last minute to compete, they won their first title in 68 years.

On Saturday, they repeated as champs.

“It was great because of the way things worked out last year, the last couple years with COVID, weather and everything. So, it’s really sweet to do it at home,” said head coach Mike Sodaro.

He says the hometown crowds helped spur the team on.

“Kelowna did amazing coming out to support us. It was nice to have it almost packed. It was great.”

The Owls faced Claremont Secondary School from the Victoria area in the final. The scores were 26-24, 25-18, 27-25 and 25-14.

“Everyone was good on our team so practices were very competitive. When we’re practising at that level I think it makes it a little bit easier to play at that level all year because every day at practice you’re competing against the best,” Sodaro explains.

The Owls didn’t lose a match all season. Sodaro has high hopes for next year’s team.

“I’ve got nine guys coming back so we’ll be competitive and strong. We’re looking forward to making another run at it and see what happens once we get to provincials.”

(KSS Owls win second consecutive ‘AAA’ Boys Volleyball Provincial Championship – Sports – Castanet.net)

AAA
GOLD	KELOWNA
SILVER	CLAREMONT
BRONZE	ELGIN PARK
4TH	OAK BAY
5TH	McMATH
6TH	STEVESON-LONDON
7TH	KITSILANO
8TH	DAVID THOMPSON
9TH	SAHALI
10TH	MT. BAKER
11TH	MOSCROP
12TH	DELTA
13TH	OKM
14TH	BURNABY CENTRAL
15TH	YALE
16TH	NORTH PEACE

MOST SPORTSMANLIKE TEAM: MT. BAKER

 

MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER: WALKER SODARO KELOWNA

MOST OUTSTANDING LIBERO: KADEN NELSON STEVESTON-LONDON

 

FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS

• KIAN BOSS KELOWNA
• NASH SEMENIUK KELOWNA
• OWEN MCPARLAND, KELOWNA
• BENN CARR ELGIN PARK
• ZACK SAGODI CLAREMONT
• JUSTIN PENG CLAREMONT

SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS

• NIKO ROBLES David Thompson
• ISAAC JAMES STEVESTON-LONDON
• ETHAN CHANG MCMATH
• FRASER SCOTT MONCRIEFF OAK BAY
• TYLER VALUCK KELOWNA
• ANDY CARR ELGIN PARK

HONORABLE MENTION

• Kasper Giesbrecht Oak Bay
• Lynden Infanti Kelowna
• Alex Coppard Claremont
• Tyler Tran Mc Math
• Dominic Sodaro Kelowna

 

AA PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

AA
GOLD	Langley Christian
SILVER	MEI
BRONZE	Duchess Park
4TH	Abbotsford Christian
5TH	South Kamloops
6TH	Pacific Christian
7TH	Cariboo Hill
8TH	Pacific Academy
9TH	Richmond Christian
10TH	Gladstone
11TH	College Heights
12TH	Victoria High
13TH	Lambrick Park
14TH	Kootenay River
15TH	Sutherland
16TH	Hazelton

MOST SPORTSMANLIKE TEAM: MT. BAKER

AA ALL STARS

MOP- Williem Van Huizen(11) Langley Christian
MOL- Elijah Lindburg(16) Langley Christian

First Team

• Zack Hofer(10) Lside Langley Christian
• Ben Brandsma(9)L side MEI
• Noah Friesen(10) L side MEI
• Isaak Lank(1) R-sdie Duchess Park
• Hudson Brandsma(10) L side Abbotsford Christian
• Alex Howard(20) L side South Kamloops

Second Team

• Brett Kester(5) setter Duchess Park
• Finn Brandsma(9) R-side Abbotsford Christian
• Josh de Bruyn (5) setter Pacific Christian
• Joris Mika Knoll(13) L side Cariboo Hill
• Jared Sikma(13) L side Abbotsford Christian
• Anthony Muller(3) R-side Langley Christian

Honourable Mention

• Jeremy Weaver(7) L side Duchess Park
• Liam Richards(8) L-side Pacific Christian
• Cohen Peters(11) Setter Pacific Academy
• Joshua Laing (15) R side Richmond Christian
• Tory Ardell(8) R side MEI
• Gavin MacGregor (16) Setter South Kamloops

 

 

A PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The host team, Duncan Christian School placed 13th in the Provincial Boys ‘A’ Volleyball Championship this past weekend, winning four of seven matches.

The tournament, which featured the top 16 ‘A’ tier schools from across the province, was held at both the DCS and Frances Kelsey gyms, with the bulk of the games happening at DCS.

“Provincials was a great experience and the only way it was possible was because of the wonderful staff working hard to make it the best it could be,” co-captain Zack Neudorf said.

DCS began the event on Dec. 1 by defeating White Rock Christian (25-19, 25-19) to open their tournament.

From there, the host school fell to Bulkley Valley Christian School 16-25, 25-20, 13-15) before beating Fernie Secondary 25-20, 25-18) to earn second place in their pool heading into the championship bracket.

Their first game of the championship draw had them up against Cedars Christian School on Friday morning, Dec. 2.

DCS fell 25-18, 25-15, 25-17.

Later that day they faced, St. Ann’s and lost again, 18-25, 20-25.

On Saturday morning, Dec. 3, DCS had a rematch against Fernie and for the second time, DCS prevailed, (25-12, 25-21, 15-12). The win meant the home team moved on to play École Jules Vern for 13th/14th place. DCS won (25-21, 25-22) to take 13th overall in the 16-team tournament.

“Hosting the provincial championship has been a real community builder,” said DCS athletic director Tom Veenstra. “It’s been great to work with athletic director Adam Johnston from Frances Kelsey. Adam was keen right from the get go to get his school involved and support the tournament. The staff and students at Kelsey provided a top-notch second host site.”

The championship final featured Vancouver Christian versus Cedars Christian of Prince George.

Vancouver took the provincial ‘A’ title in an exciting game match that took four sets to decide.

The bleachers were jam-packed with enthusiastic supporters,” Veenstra noted. “The atmosphere was electric… Like a university finals match!” (story available at: Host DCS 13th at boys ‘A’ volleyball provincials – Cowichan Valley Citizen)

A
GOLD	Vancouver Christian
SILVER	Cedars Christian
BRONZE	Unity Christian
4TH	Credo Christian
5TH	Nanaimo Christian
6TH	Bulkley Valley Christian
7TH	Vernon Christian
8TH	Brockton School
9TH	Brookes Westshore
10TH	Kelowna Christian
11TH	St Ann’s Academy
12TH	Maple Ridge Christian
13TH	Duncan Christian
14TH	École Jules Vern
15TH	Fernie Secondary
16TH	White Rock Christian

Most Sportsmanlike Team- Maple Ridge Christian

A Provincial All-Stars

Most Valuable Player- Vancouver Christian, Brennan Wicke

Most Outstanding Libero- Vancouver Christian, Ethan Soon

1st Team All-Stars

• Bulkley Valley Christian, David Loki
• Vancouver Christian, Calvin Hsu
• Cedars Christian, John Jeong
• Nanaimo Christian, Calvin Vanderkooi
• Cedars Christian, Sam Nelson
• Unity Christian, Jay Smiens

2nd Team All-Stars

• Cedars Christian, Dylan Beuhler
• Vernon Christian, Asher Hovius
• Brockton School, Noah Kezin
• Unity Christian, Mason Bowman
• Credo Christian, Dylan Grim
• Vernon Christian, Jack Johnson

 

2019 AWARDS

Posted on Dec 4, 2019

AAA FINAL FINISH

 

1. Earl Marriott
   

   Earl Marriott 2019 AAA GOLD

2. Kelowna
   

   Kelowna 2019 AAA Silver (Vancouver Sports Pictures)

3. Claremont
   

   AAA BRONZE WINNERS- CLAREMONT SPARTANS

4. OKM
5. Eric Hamber
6. Oak Bay
7. Riverside
8. Argyle
9. Fraser Heights
10. Penticton
11. Reynolds
12. Seaquam
13. Mount Boucherie
14. Steveston-London
15. Fleetwood Park
16. Yale
17. Delta
18. Semiahmoo
19. Burnaby Central
20. Mt. Baker

2019 MOST SPORTSMAN LIKE TEAM- OAKBAY

 

AAA 2019 (Langley)
MOP- Talon McMullin (12) Earl Marriott

MOL- Sean McIntyre OKM

1st ALL STARS

Quin Pitcher (9) OKM, Takoda McMullin(5) Earl Marriott, Tyson Embree (12) Kelowna, Ethan Boag (11) Claremont, Crash Wergeland (3) Claremont, Braden White (5) Kelowna

2nd ALL STARS

Jesse Lee (23) Riverside, Seth Baker(11) Oak Bay, Colby Soolsma (4) Argyle, Lucas Yang (15) Eric Hamber, Josh Quiring (1) Earl Marriott, Kael Murphy (8) OKM

 

AA 2019 FINISH

1. MEI
   

   MEI EAGLES AA GOLD CHAMPIONS 2019. (Vancouver Sports Pictures)

2. LANGLEY CHRISTIAN
   

   LANGLEY CHRISTIAN AA SILVER 2019 (Vancouver Sports Pictures)

3. ABBOTSFORD CHRISTIAN
   

   ABBOTSFORD CHRISTIAN AA BRONZE 2019 (Vancouver Sports Pictures)

4. GEORGE ELLIOT
5. College Heights
6. Pacific Christian
7. Pacific Academy
8. Surrey Christian
9. Langley Fundamental
10. Duchess Park
11. W.L. Seaton
12. Hugh McRoberts
13. Sir Charles Tupper
14. St. Michael’s University
15. Alpha
16. Prince Charles

 

MOST SPORTSMANLIKE TEAM- SIR CHARLES TUPPER

AA 2019 (Langley)

MOP- Tyson Ardell(9) MEI

MOL- Nathaniel Kang(15) Pacific Academy

First Team

Hunter Arul-pragasm(14) MEI, Josh Aperloo(13) Abbotsford Christian, Roan McCarthy (3) George Elliot, Jonas Van Huizen (8) Langley Christian, Zach Meinen(10) Abbotsford Christian, Nic Triemstra(15) Langley Christian

Second Team

Elijah Woldringh (9) College Heights
Juhan Park (4) Pacific Academy
Tommy Godoy (6) Pacific Christian
Comrie Engbers(7) Surrey Christian
Micah Bucknam(4) MEI
Austin Duff(14) George Elliot

SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNERS ($500) (ANNOUNCED FEB 20th, 2020)

1. Comrie Engbers – Surrey Christian (AA)
2. William Jin – Burnaby Central (AAA)
3. Brennan Katsube – Delta (AAA)
4. Stephen Searcy – Penticton High (AAA)
5. Emmanuel Tran – Langley Fundamental (AA)
6. Braden White – Kelowna (AAA)

AA GOLD RETURNS TO THE EAGLES!

Posted on Dec 1, 2019

LANGLEY- By Derek Shuel

The stands were packed full of green, black, blue and gold!  What a great atmosphere to finish up a successful BC Boys Provincial Championship!

The first set was a classic chess match between two grizzly veteran teams who have found themselves in many a gold medal match from the past.  Tonight, in some early key highlights – LCS runs a successful yet difficult slide-overload with middle, Jordan Dickhof (#13), while MEI sticks with solid consistent serving and it’s quick paced offense through their second-team All-Star setter Micah Bucknam.  Langley counters with all-star Nic Triemstra establishing himself this set as a force to be reckoned with.  As the smoke settled, MEI wins the opening thriller 27-25.

In the second, the chess match continues well into the game having the set tied at 10-10.  MEI continues it’s fast paced offense and finds some nice seams in the middle with Trey Smith (#15) and Levi Kropp (#5 ).  Having some middle connection helps the Eagles pull away to a score of 19-13.  At 24-16, LCS’ all-star left side Jonas Van Huizen (#8) rattles off a number of crowd pleasing spin serves to make it interesting, but MEI takes the set 25-19.  Off to the third we go.

With two tape aces on the day for the Eagles’ middle Levi Kropp, MEI soared to an 8-3 start.  But, the Lightning didn’t quit fighting as they battled back to 12-14.  As we have heard many times in the past, these championships are so very difficult to win.   Similar to that of the second set, late in the third set LCS’s Van Huizen spin serves some amazing tough serves and this time helps bring his team back to a tie game 23-23!  The crowd is loud and the game is tied!  With a few back and forth plays and one very important touch call off of MEI’s Tyson Ardell’s hit, MEI stuns everyone in the gym and quickly wins the Provincial Championship 25-23 and a direct 3-0 win.

At the completion of the game, Coach Olfert of the Eagles stated,

“the way we were able to close it out was very special.  I’m really proud of them”.

He continued with,

“how proud I am with how the boys responded through adversity and how they supported each other over the past 4 days.  It wasn’t any one player, it was a complete team effort.”

 

 

The 2019 edition of the BC Boys Volleyball Championship saw the MEI Eagles capture their AA boys division leading 11th gold medal while the Lightning has 3 gold, 3 silver and four bronze in the past 13 seasons.  Needless to say, it was a battle for the ages and the capacity crowd at the LEC was not disappointed.  GO EAGLES!

 

 

EARL MARRIOTT MARINERS REPEAT AS 3A BOYS CHAMPIONS

Posted on Dec 1, 2019

LANGLEY – By Gary Ahuja

An epic three-year run for the Earl Marriott Mariners was capped with yet another championship.

The core of the senior boys’ volleyball team won the junior provincial title (with a perfect season) in 2017 and claimed the senior title last year. And on Saturday night, the Mariners added yet another trophy to the case, shaking off some early nerves to defeat the Kelowna Owls 3-1 in the 3A championship final of the BC Secondary School Volleyball Provincial Championship at Langley Events Centre.

“It is a dream come true. It is not supposed to happen like this,”

admitted Earl Marriott’s Talon McMullin, who earned Most Valuable Player honours while twin brother Takoda picked up a First Team All-Star Award.

“We have just gotten lucky with the guys who have come to our school. We have been a tight-knit group since Grade 8, we have all played club together. To cap it off with another championship … it is just a surreal feeling.”

Kelowna was looking for their first senior boys provincial title in 66 years and they came out firing int eh first set, winning 25-19 as they looked to end their lengthy drought.

“They were just nervous in the first set and we said let’s go back to how we practice in the gym. Just like the gym, forget the crowd and just come back,” said Marriott coach Dale Quiring.

“They are so patient, so disciplined. When things don’t go our way, they just keep it together and focus on the next task that they have to do.”

A key was taking away Kelowna’s line attack, while improving their own block and passing to turn the tide. The Mariners were ruthlessly efficient over the match’s final three sets, winning 25-14, 25-11 and 25-14.

“There was no panic, we had a plan going in, it just took a bit to kick in,” Talon McMullin said.

The Marriott roster features just 10 players and Quiring alluded to the fact that some members battled through undisclosed ailments over the course of the season.

The coach also said the fact his players are multi-sport athletes is a boon to the team as their conditioning is never an issue and instead of devoting time to that in practice, they can instead focus on their volleyball skills.

“We work hard in hard in practice and then they just bring it on the court. When we are dialed and locked in, we are a hard team to beat,” he said.

In the bronze medal game, the Claremont Spartans defeated the Okanagan Mission Huskies. For full results, click here.

MEI DEFEATS LANGLEY CHRISTIAN IN 2A BOYS FINAL

Posted on Dec 1, 2019

LANGLEY- By Gary Ahuja

The season has ended the way it began for the MEI Eagles: with the No. 1 provincial ranking.

For the first five weeks of the 2A senior boys’ season, the Abbotsford school found itself ranked tops. But in late October, the Eagles lost their perch, first to the Abbotsford Christian Knights and then for the month of November, to the Langley Christian Lightning.

On Saturday night, MEI used a 3-0 victory over the Lightning to capture the 2A Boys BC Secondary School Volleyball Provincial Championship title at Langley Events Centre.

The victory is the 11^th all-time for MEI at the 2A level (most of any school) and their first since 2015.

Langley Christian has 10 medals (three gold, three silver and four bronze) in the past 13 seasons.

All three sets were competitive with MEI winning 27-25 in the opener, 25-19 in set two and then scoring the final two points to break a tie to prevail 25-23.

“The biggest thing was being steady with our serving and passing. Both teams were trying to establish that. And then hopefully from that, run an effective offence,”

said MEI coach Rocky Olfert.

“That was the biggest thing, trying to be steady and settle the nerves.”

At the Eastern Valley Championships earlier this month, Langley Christian beat the Eagles, to earn both the Zone title and the No. 1 ranking for the 16-team provincial championships.

“That loss really motivated our team, it didn’t bring us down,” said MEI’s Tyson Ardell, named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “I felt like after that, we saw a challenge in front of us, we were able to work on our skills and get ready for a rematch.”

The Eagles would prevail in their Power Pool (which featured the top four seeds at provincials: No. 1 Langley Christian, No. 3 Abbotsford Christian and No. 4 George Elliot) dropping just one set out three best-of-three matches on opening day.

From there, the team cruised through the round of 16 and quarterfinals with back-to-back 3-0 wins over Prince Charles and Surrey Christian.

The Eagles then knocked off Abbotsford Christian 3-1 in the semifinals before facing Langley Christian in the gold medal game.

“Embrace the moment, they have earned it. Try and take it all in but also not to make it more than what it is. The points are still the same so be nice and calm and not get too high or too low,”

Olfert said of his pre-game message to his relatively young squad, which has just a pair of Grade 12 starters.

One of those was Ardell, the MVP.

“He has had a phenomenal four days. They always say big players step up in big games and he really did that for us. His leadership really shone through. You could see it in his eyes, his determination, his desire, he wanted the ball. It was really fun to watch,” the coach said.

“He is not naturally an outside hitter, but he really stepped up and it was fun to watch. When we needed something big to happen, he really stepped up.”

In the bronze medal game, Abbotsford Christian needed five sets but they knocked off George Elliot 3-2 in a rematch of last year’s championship final. For full results and standings, click here.

Pacific Academy’s Nathaniel Kang was selected the Most Outstanding Libero.

Roan McCarthy (George Elliot), Josh Aperloo (Abbotsford Christian), Zach Meinen (Abbotsford Christian), Hunter Arul-Pragasam (MEI), Nic Triemstra (Langley Christian) and Jonas Van Huizen (Langley Christian) were selected First Team All-Stars.

The Second Team All-Stars were Elijah Woldringh (College Heights), Juhan Park (Pacific Academy), Tommy Godoy (Pacific Christian), Comrie Engbers (Surrey Christian), Micah Bucknam (MEI) and Austin Duff (George Elliot).

And the Sir Charles Tupper Tigers won the Most Sportsmanlike Team Award.