The VSS Panthers placed second in the St. Ann’s Academy Crusaders Grade 8 girls volleyball tournament in Kamloops.
Mike Bertram’s Cats were swept in straight sets by the Sa-Hali A Sabres in Saturday’s final, a team they defeated 2-1 in preliminary play.
“Beth Butler played strong in the final on both offence and defence,” said Bertram. “It was close throughout but their serving was just too much for us and we weren’t able to string enough points together to catch them. Overall, the girls played great volleyball playing some tough opponents and show great promise for the rest of the season. Lauren Hoard was a serving beast all weekend, Kylie Lightfoot was the top defensive player and Libby Hampshire and Beth Butler took their games to a new level.”
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VSS started the round-robin with a 2-1 win over the Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops 2-1. Jarett Molitwenik delivered some nice kills out of the middle hitter position off great sets from Amy Curtis.
Excellent serving by Maddie Hackman and Taylor Deboer led VSS to a 2-1 win over the Merritt Panthers, while Hoard served bombs all match long and Lightfoot converted perfect passes to start the offence in the win over Sa-Hali A,
The Panthers ended preliminary play with a loss to Valleyview A Vikings of Kamloops but still finished first in their pool. Libby Hampshire made great decisions as setter varying between sets and tips, while Zion White made some clutch serves to keep it close.
VSS stopped the Valleyview B Vikings 2-0 in the quarterfinals as Sierra Fernley served eight straight points to get them out to an early lead. Dennica Paull played great defence, making sweet passes that led to kills.
The semifinals saw the Panthers beat Sahali B 2-1 with Hoard and Deboer posting big kills out of the middle off of great sets by Lightfoot, Curtis and Hampshire.
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