John Barsby Secondary School’s senior girls, even though they didn’t win the Island title in their home gym, achieved their primary goal – a berth in provincials.
The Barsby Bulldogs senior AA girls’ volleyball team hosted the Vancouver Island championships this past weekend in Harewood and earned silver medals after a 25-23, 18-25, 25-16, 25-10 loss to Brentwood College in the final on Saturday, Nov. 19.
But Barsby, on the strength of a victory in the semifinals earlier in the day, grabbed one of the two available berths to provincial championships in Merritt the first weekend in December.
Barsby player Zoey Tropea said it was amazing to see that all the players brought their A game to the Island championships. She said the team’s serving and passing were key to winning matches.
“It’s really any team’s most important aspect to their game,” she said. “Our serving, when we get on our runs, that’s what’s really important to us and that gives us the confidence to make those big hits, to pass the ball. As long as we’re not missing serves, it’s going good.”
Bulldogs players Julia Geiger and Taryn Curtis were chosen tournament all-stars.
Tropea said it’s an “amazing opportunity” to extend volleyball season all the way to provincials, especially with a group of teammates whom she considers best friends.
“It’s so exciting,” she said. “Usually we’re not in this position, so it’s a really great feeling.”
She said she has no idea what calibre of volleyball will be waiting for the Bulldogs at provincial championships, but she can’t wait to find out.
“I know there are definitely going to be some not-easy teams. We’ll see how we compare,” Tropea said. “I think we can still elevate [our game] another level – probably five more levels.”
Provincial championships are Dec. 1-3 at Merritt Secondary School.
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