Mt. Boucherie’s Jeff Tubbs giving it all he’s got. Photo: Sports Action Photos
Mount Boucherie and Kelowna made strong statements for the strength of the Okanagan with convincing wins that sent them to the AAA semifinals, where they’ll meet Friday night.
Boucherie, which had lost all three earlier meetings with Fraser Heights this season, turned away the Firehawks in four sets.
The Bears won the first set 25-19, then overcame a 15-10 deficit to take the second, 25-23.
“It was 21-all and we made three mental mistakes,” Fraser Heights coach James Ahn said.
Ahn tried a different lineup in the third and Fraser Heights won 25-21. But Boucherie, who got solid performances from brothers Jeremy and Ryan Bednar in the match, took early control of the fourth set and put it away 25-16.
“We just fell apart again,” Ahn said. “Too many errors. They (Boucherie) definitely deserved to win.”
Top-ranked Kelowna, which has only two losses on the season, rolled past ninth seed Delta in three straight. Coach Mike Sodaro said Grade 12s Devon Cote, Eli Risso and Sam Taylor-Parks and Grade 11 libero Matt Bernacki played particularly well.
KSS went 3-0 against Mount Boucherie this season, but the Bears were one of the few teams to take a set off their rival. Kelowna won 2-1 in the TRU tournament, 3-1 in a league match and 3-0 in the zone final.
Sodaro said his team got pushed in those matches and he wasn’t surprised that Boucherie also made the semis.
He said good passing would be the key to winning again. “If we pass well, we’re a good enough team to put the ball away a lot. Pass well and everything will fall into place.”
In early AAA consolation play, Penticton, Centennial and Johnston Heights won their first matches of the day.
In semi-final action tonight the matches start with AA at 5pm with MEI vs Woodlands and Princess Margaret vs Clarence Fulton. The Spike Contest follows that and then the AAA semi-finals will start at 8:15pm. Should be a great night of exciting volleyball action.
