Two local beach volleyball players already know what they’ll see during the 2013 Beach National Championship at Vancouver’s Spanish Bank this weekend.
“Very tough competition,” said Logan Mend, who’s teamed with fellow Naramata teenager Blaire Anderson.
“All the teams coming from the eastern provinces are going to be very good. Every game is going to be a good one.”
The duo, who play for the Volleytech Volleyball Club, earned earned silver during the B.C. youth beach volleyball championship earlier this month at Spanish Banks.
The club has seven teams headed to nationals, said co-coach Paul Mend. “The experience gained is huge,” he said.
“This training is huge for indoor (volleyball),” the coach continued, and next year “most of these kids will be on the Pen High senior team.”
During provincials, Mend and Anderson were ranked No.1 in the boys’ under-18 field, but lost in straight sets to Liam Birker and Irvan Brar of Surrey, who were ranked fourth. Anderson said competition is always fierce at provincials.
“It’s an older group of boys. We do play some our own age group,” he said. “The experience we’ve had playing up has really helped our competition. It helps us see what skills we can develop. What we need to improve on.”
Other members of the Volleytech team that competed in provincials were Brayden Wheeler-Kyle Kohlhauser (U-16), Cam Gunning-Kieran Loewen, Kaylie Loewen (U-18), Cor DeWaal-Anton Grabreck (U-18), Courtney Wheeler-Nykaila Wheeler (U-16), Tanner Johnson-Kevin Saunders (U-18) and Courtney Milligan-Kiah Wheeler (U-18).
With files from Kelowna Capital News.