The South Delta Sun Devils couldn’t stop the Okanagan domination but did manage to land on the podium for the second straight year at the B.C. AAAA Girls Volleyball Championships in Kelowna.
The Sun Devils closed out their campaign with a win over the Riverside Rapids in Saturday night’s bronze medal match. The battle for third was a rematch of last year’s title game that saw the PoCo school rally to hand South Delta a heartbreaking five-set defeat. This time, the Devils overcame a one-set deficit and the loss of key Grade 12 Rachel Rosser who broke her foot in Friday’s Round of 16 win over Lord Tweedsmuir.
Earlier, South Delta got past Dover Bay in the quarter-finals before falling in straight sets to No. 1 ranked and host Okanagan-Mission Huskies in Saturday’s semis. The Huskies went on to defeat Mt. Boucherie in an all-Kelowna championship match.
“We were optimistic about getting another chance at (Okanagan-Mission) but if you had asked us the moment after Rachel wrecked her foot where do you think you guys will be at the end (of the tournament) I would have said if we can make the top four without her that would be quite the accomplishment for this team to pull off,” said Sun Devils head coach Dan Burgess.
“I think it was the fourth time we have played Okanagan-Mission. We beat them at UBC, lost in the semis (at the Best of West) and then in the final at the Red Serge (in PoCo last month) without Myah (Cressy). They are a solid team, they were injury free and they performed for their home fans. I don’t feel bad about that loss at all. It was 3-0, but two of those games scores were 27-25 and 26-24.
“The girls walked away from that semi obviously disappointed but at same time, we didn’t really drop the ball. It was very impressive with how they came back out for the third place match. They dropped the first game but they felt like they were going to win the whole way. They were fired up for the chance to get a little bit of vengeance.’”
Mackenzie Campbell and Cressy capped their outstanding high school careers with first team all-star selections, solidifying their status as top post-secondary prospects. Also getting university coaches’ attention was Grade 11 Alex Turner Malinek as the 6-foot-4 outside hitter was named to the second all-star team.
The team also featured Grade 12s- Georgia Jacobsen, Jaden Sull, Anna Yamaleev, Amely Voronstov, Tayah Meehan, Anna Tanaka, Bianka Filc, Georgia Kwiatkowski; Grade 11s- Maggie Gower, Georgia Archibald, Isabella Burtini, Madi Dhal, Maddie Dier, Isabella Waterfall, Grayden Patroch, Emma Turner, Bella Deshaye and Erin Woodhead.
At the net….
The Seaquam Seahawks capped their impressive season with a seventh place finish. The South Fraser champions opened the playoffs with a Round of 16 win over Mt. Doug before falling to Okanagan Mission in the quarter-finals and Dover Bay in consolation play. They closed out the tournament with a win over Claremont on Saturday with standout Jayden Britt being named to a Second Team All-Star.
