Yukon volleyball teams praised for great play at UBC tournament

Despite not winning as many matches as they were hoping for, the players on both Yukon squads showed that they belonged at this year's UBC volleyball tournament.

Despite not winning as many matches as they were hoping for, the players on both Yukon squads showed that they belonged at this year’s UBC volleyball tournament.

The Grade 11/12 boys’ teams from F.H. Collins and Porter Creek secondary schools both finished with a record of 1-4 at this past weekend’s tournament in B.C.             

The two squads played tough throughout the entire competition and each had multiple matches go the three set distance.

“They did very well, but we showed our inexperience by not being able to hold a couple leads,” said Sukh Sandhu, the coach of the Porter Creek boys’ team.

“We had multiple chances to win in the second and third set of our final match.

Usually we find a way to win, but we found a way to lose this time, but that’s just part of them not being in tournaments every weekend.”   

Porter Creek got off to a great start at the UBC tournament, winning its first match against St. Georges, a AAA squad from Vancouver.

Porter Creek continued its great play in its second match, taking the first set 25-23 against a very talented Van Tech team as a result of two clutch aces.

Unfortunately, Porter Creek could not finish off Van Tech and ended up losing in three sets.

Porter Creek’s team was a lot younger than what the school normally sends to the UBC tournament, which this year included eight Grade 11 players and only one Grade 12 student.

Sandhu said he is pleased with how his team played on the weekend.

“We had some pretty exciting matches, even though they lost,” he said.

“There was a lot of amazing plays that our guys made and that coaches down there saw. It’s just too bad they didn’t get a bounce here or there or figure a way out to finish off a team.”

F.H. also did very well, winning its third match in three sets.

Nathan Wallace, one of F.H.‘s Grade 12 players, said he thought the team played well in B.C.

“We could compete with any of the teams there,” he said. “We ended up losing in our fight in the quarter final, but it was a good experience.”

Al Foster, one of the coaches on F.H. boys’ team, said his squad’s game progressed over the course of the two-day tournament.

“We could have easily won four out of our five matches,” he said. “I am just glad that we were in it and that we battled.”