Cats grab bronze by stopping Elkford, Immaculata continues to shine with KVC title
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Local teams took it on the chin at the Kootenay Volleyball Classic Saturday at the Mount Sentinel High School gymnasium.
Host Wildcats captured the bronze medal for the best finish for the three West Kootenay entrants.
“As I mentioned before (tournament) the challenge with our team is to find ways to play beyond our ages (Grade 11’s and Grade 9”s),” Wildcats coach Joe Moreira told The Nelson Daily.
“For some inexplicable reason we played most of our seven matches with a maturity and confidence . . . (which) caught me by surprise.”
After dropping a semi final match to Kootenay rival Fernie Falcons, the Cats defeated Elkford in the consolation game to capture third place in the eight-team tournament.
Immaculata of Kelowna, ranked second overall in the recent B.C. High School Girl’s A poll, won the tournament defeating the Falcons in the final.
The other two West Kootenay schools, Trail’s J. Lloyd Crowe and L.V. Rogers Bombers of Nelson finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Prince Charles Comets of Creston took fifth with Enderby’s A.L. Fortune finishing in the basement.
The Wildcats hosted a German touring team Tuesday before returning to the practice court in preparation for the prestigious UBC-O Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday in Kelowna.
Moreira is hoping to build on the recent improvements in Kelowna.
“Hopefully this weekend instilled a measure of confidence that we will need for the balance of the season,” Moreira said.
“Looking ahead, our zone tournament is really deep. Teams that have traditionally been AA are now A and are pretty strong this year.”
Hawks get better with age
The J. Lloyd Crowe Hawks played like champions, but didn’t get the results at the Kootenay Volleyball Classic at Mount Sentinel.
The Hawks took silver medal winner Fernie Falcons to a deciding game — Crowe actually led the contest by early in the third game — before losing the round robin match in three games.
The Hawks, however, did improve in the overall standings, nosing ahead of West Kootenay rival LVR into sixth spot.
In the opening tournament of the season in the Silver City for both LVR and Crowe, the Bombers finished ahead of Trail in the overall standings.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
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