The Princess Margaret Mustangs’ senior girls volleyball team are AA Okanagan Valley champions.
Their victory over Vernon’s Kalamalka Lakers ensured them a berth in provincials. Mustangs coach Shawn Lum said with only the first-place team advancing, there was some pressure.
“The girls stepped up and did not waiver for a second,” said Lum. “I am very proud of them.”
In the championship, Emma Klingsphon came off the bench as a setter in relief of Leighton Vaillancourt and ran a strong offence, said Lum.
“Emma had some dumps that the other teams did not see coming and this was important because other teams did not know what kind of offence to expect, and did not know where to set up their block,” said Lum.
Notable players were Jordan Lilley, Sydney McKinlay, Courtney Olexa, Farnaaz Johal, Caitlyn Neary, Vaillancourt, Mahkaila Lusch and Laura Ciancone, who made the two final kills that made the Mustangs valley champions.
“As a coach, something we have been working on this year has been staying aggressive on our offence and defence positioning,” he said. “It’s nice to see it all come together and everything come together at the perfect time.”
George Elliot Secondary in Lake Country hosts the provincials Dec. 3-5.
Mustangs can’t fend off Coyotes
The season ended for the senior boys at the hands of the George Elliot Coyotes during the Okanagan Valley championship.
The Mustangs were forced to take on the Coyotes, ranked No. 7 provincially, after losing to the Okanagan Mission Huskies 25-16, 19-25, 11-15. Mustangs coach Rich Corrie said had they won, it would have given them an easier quarter-finals match. Instead, they faced a strong Coyotes team that featured three players taller than six-foot-four.
“We played OK against them but lost three straight 25-12, 25-21 and 25-21,” said Corrie.
Six of the eight teams in the valley were provincially ranked and three berths were available to qualify. Corrie said they weren’t consistent enough to beat the top teams.
“We played very well in some sets, but made too many errors on our side of the court in others,” said Corrie. “We lost to a team that was about the same as us then to a team that was better than us. The Grade 12’s especially were disappointed as qualifying for a provincial tournament in high school sports is always a good accomplishment, a nice way to finish off your high school sports.”