A flat start to the bronze medal game was too much to overcome for the Brookswood Bobcats who just missed a podium finish.
The Bobcats senior girls volleyball team was competing at the Fraser Valley AAA championships, where they dropped the third-place game to the Rick Hansen Hurricanes on Monday afternoon at the 91原创 Events Centre.
The loss was disappointing as the Bobcats had beaten the Hurricanes earlier in the regular season.
鈥淭hey struggled to rally back and got beat by mental errors,鈥� said coach Janet Wiens. 鈥淒efinitely not one of our better games.鈥�
But the fourth-place finish was still enough to qualify the 鈥機ats for the provincial championships, which run Nov. 28 to Nov. 30 at Delta鈥檚 Seaquam Secondary.
鈥淨ualifying for provincials wasn鈥檛 really a surprise because if the team played consistently well, I felt we could finish in the top four in the Fraser Valleys,鈥� Wiens said.
What did surprise the coach was a second-place finish in league play, thanks to a 6-2 record, with both losses coming at the hands of Seaquam and Clayton Heights, who finished one-two at the Fraser Valley championships.
The 鈥機ats are a young squad 鈥� they boast just one Grade 12 and also have a Grade 9 and a Grade 10 player on the roster 鈥� so Wiens knows the experience they gain this year will only help them next season when the majority of the roster is in their final season.
鈥淏eing a young team (and) getting provincial exposure will only make us a force to be reckoned with next year,鈥� she said.
Brookswood did land one player, Nicole Chevrier, on the all-star team.
And Wiens predicts great things to come for her Grade 11 star.
鈥淪he鈥檚 like a sponge; she takes in everything she鈥檚 shown, taught or told and applies it,鈥� Wiens said.
鈥淎nd she has a natural gift to read what鈥檚 happening in the court and to adapt to it, a trait that cannot be taught.鈥�
鈥淔or a Grade 11 player, I predict she will dominate in both high school and club volleyball,鈥� she added.
