They went to Prince George seeded No. 2.
They left as No. 1.
The Vernon Christian School Royals captured the B.C. High School Senior Boys A Volleyball championship in Prince George Saturday, defeating Langley’s Credo Christian Kodiaks 25-17, 25-16, 25-16 in the final at Cedar Christian School.
It’s the first-ever provincial championship in any sport for Vernon Christian, and avenged a four-set loss to the Kodiaks in the 2017 final in Kamloops.
VCS never lost a set in reaching the gold-medal game.
They were a perfect 5-0 in the preliminary round, sweeping the Unity Christian Flames of Chilliwack (25-9, 27-25), the host Cedars Christian Eagles (25-10, 27-25), the St. Andrew’s Sabres of Victoria (25-20, 25-19), the Bulkley Valley Christian Royals of Smithers (25-9, 25-14) and the Fernie Falcons (25-19, 25-18), which put them into a quarterfinal matchup against the Mt. Sentinel Wildcats of South Slocan. The Royals swept the Kootenay school 25-21, 25-11, 25-19.
Right side player Noah Podolski finished with nine kills while setter Jacob Defeo contributed with 44 assists.
Next up, a semifinal match with the Centennial Christian Seahawks of Terrace, who entered the tournament as the top-seed but were upset by Credo Christian in the round-robin. The Royals swept Centennial 25-18, 26-24, 25-15, shutting down the Seahawks attack early by getting key blocks from middles Liam Remple and Devin Hofsink. Ben Molitwenik led the attack with 12 kills from the power position while Remple had 10 and Hofsink seven. Outside attacker Levi VanderDeen had 10 as well. Defeo was outstanding in ball distribution and finished with 48 assists, a solo block, and a service ace.
“In a perfect world it was my wish that we would be able to play Centennial, who was ranked number one, in the final but also play Credo who we lost to last year in the final,” said Royals coach Dwayne Remple, helped on the bench by Chris Bannick and Zac Dubland. “In the end Centennial didn’t make it to the gold-medal match and as fate would have it we had to play them in the semi finals which made the whole tournament even sweeter. We overwhelmed them and beat them 3-0.
“Our big guys, Devin Hofsink, Liam Remple, Noah Podolski, Levi VanderDeen, Jacob Defeo and Ben Moltwinek, had huge games for us. The rest of the team also had a huge game for us as well but Centennial couldn’t stop our big guys.”
The finals was a rematch from last year. Remple led the team offensively with 13 kills and four blocks. Molitwenik had 10 kills and Hofsink had five and chipped in with four blocks. Josh Hall came in off the bench in the third set and contributed with four kills, one solo block, and a service ace. Braeden McAmmond came in at middle, got the last team kill and then served up match point to seal the victory from Grade 12 setter Kaden Koshman. Libero Shaun Huizinga played an almost flawless game, making many saves and digs to keep rallies alive.
“We were a dominant force at the net all weekend,” said Bannick. “Teams got frustrated with our big blocks and started tipping and rolling hits as we shook their confidence. Once we dug up the ball and transitioned to offence we were unstoppable.”
Bannick said the team theme all season was ‘I Play For Him’ and the Royals displayed that in Prince George.
“They played a real complete game, with a commitment to team defence and distributing the ball evenly on offence,” he said. “Everyone bought into the team system of sacrifice to achieve our goal. With such a talented team it could be easy to be selfish but that was never going to be a part of this team. We became a family, a band of brothers, in which everyone filled their role for the betterment of the whole team.
“As coaches, we are extremely proud of these boys. They were a great example of sportsmanship and displayed a positive attitude that was evident for all to see. To go undefeated, not even losing a set (19-0) in a tournament is a rare feat, and even harder at a provincial championship. They made our school, and community, very proud as they played with character and integrity.”
Molitwenik was named tournament MVP, Remple and Defeo were chosen to the first all-star team and Podolski was a second-team all-star selection.
The Royals lose only two players, Podolski and Koshman, to graduation.
* Seaton Sonics got on a roll on the consolation side of the B.C. Junior Boys Volleyball Championships in Kamloops after a heartbreaking end in the preliminary round.
Seaton went 3-0 on the B side of the bracket to end up 17th in the 24-team tournament. This came after the Sonics had gone 1-2 in the round-robin, which was good for a three-way tie but a tiebreaking formula relegated Seaton to fourth place in the four-team pool.
The Sonics lost in straight sets to the eventual gold medalists, MEI Eagles of Clearbrook, and the Yale Lions of Abbotsford, but swept the Burnaby Mountain Lions.
Seaton didn’t lose another match after the round robin, rattling off wins over Cranbrook’s Mt. Baker Wild, the Elgin Park Orcas of Surrey and the Moscrop Panthers of Burnaby.
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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