With only eight players on the team, the Kodiaks 18-and-under girls gave it everything they had on the provincial volleyball court last weekend.
The Kodiaks, a Prince George Youth Volleyball Club team, served to an eighth-place finish out of 24 squads at the B.C. Volleyball championships in Abbotsford.
"We were seeded 13th going in and we needed to win our [round-robin] pool to get into the playoffs," said 18U Kodiaks coach Dave Dalcanale. "By the end of Sunday, their energy was gone. A lot of players had put on mileage and it showed mentally and physically. That's why I'm pretty proud of eighth place."
The Kodiaks posted a perfect 3-0 record in their round-robin pool, smashing to wins against the Vernon Vikings (2-0), Surrey's Synergy Achi, (2-0), and Burnaby's AVC (2-0).
The Prince George squad then edged Vancouver's Thunder Storm 2-1 (25-23, 15-25, 15-8) in the preliminary playoff round to advance to the quarter-finals.
"In the third set we were down 6-2 and then we outscored them 13-2," said Dalcanale. "The girls were really excited and they had a great match. It was some of the best volleyball they've played all year."
Langley's Fraser Valley Volleyball Club (FVVC) Blitz stole straight sets off the Kodiaks in the quarter-finals which knocked them out of the running for a top-four finish.
"That was the third time we played them this year and we had a feeling we could beat them. We were evenly-matched," said Dalcanale. "The first set was tied 24-24 and serving errors cost us. In the second [set] our passing was off and that got us into a bit of trouble."
The Kodiaks were knocked down to the second playoff bracket and lost 2-1 (25-10, 25-27, 15-13) to FVVC Kara.
Next, BCO Hoo-Ra, a team from North Vancouver, beat the Kodiaks 2-1 (25-19, 19-25, 15-12) to finish in seventh spot, while the Prince George squad settled for eighth.
"We had played them twice before and they were close matches," said Dalcanale. "They were in a similar situation as us where they had to win their pool to make it to the playoffs. Again, the matches were close, it was just a matter of unforced errors."
The Coquitlam Ducks won the 18U girls title, defeating BCO Black 2-1 in the final. The Victoria Titans won bronze.
Next up for the Kodiaks is the 18U Canadian Open (nationals) championships in Edmonton, May 9-11.
The Kodiaks, who won gold in 18U Tier 3 at nationals last year, are expected to compete in Tier 2 this year, based on their results at provincials.
"We'll probably end up in Tier 2 and finish somewhere in the middle of the pack," said Dalcanale. "I heard there will be 92 teams at the tournament, divided into three tiers."
Thirty-two teams will compete in Tier 1, 32 in Tier 2 and 20 in Tier 3.
In the meantime, the Kodiaks will recuperate from their marathon finish at provincials and practice a few more times this week and next to prepare for nationals.
The 17U girls Kodiaks Allen finished in 10th place out of 22 teams in Division 1 with a 4-1 overall record, while the 17/18U boys Kodiaks Glenn finished 19th in Div. 2 with a 2-4 record.
