The bright lights and big smashes came to a sudden conclusion last week for the upstart Burnaby North Vikings.
The senior boys volleyball team closed out the AAA season experiencing all the pressure and excitement that is the provincial championships at the Langley Events Centre, coming home after finishing 18th overall.
In a 20-team tourney, that may not sound like such an accomplishment. Without retracing the difficult road it took getting there, the Vikings put their heart and soul on the line and were rewarded, if not in placing, in affirmation of their skills and dedication on the biggest stage.
Burnaby North placed second after a tightly contested pool round, which saw them go 2-1 with victories over Centennial (25-20, 31-29) and David Thompson (22-25, 25-11, 15-8). Reynolds emerged as the pool’s top finisher after a well-played 25-20, 25-22 battle with the Vikings. Setting a strong tone in the first round were Ryan Hum, Justen Chau and libero Yoshie Inomata.
Burnaby launched the championship round a little slowly against No. 12-ranked Vancouver Tech, gaining some momentum near the end before falling 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-22).
Spun off to the consolation bracket, the Vikings defeated Centennial in another close showdown 2-1 (24-26, 27-25, 15-10), before closing out the tourney in a 2-1 loss to Claremont (23-25, 25-21, 15-12).
Head coach Barton Lim liked the spirit the team showed in fending off a furious Centennial challenge.
“We won our opening game which was a rematch from pool play,” remarked Lim. “After losing a heartbreaking set where we had a 24-21 lead, losing 24-26, we regrouped to eke out a second set win, with both teams exchanging leads. In the third set, (we) built a lead with some strong hitting from Hum, Chau and Ted Yoon and some key blocking by middle Kaito McKelvie.”
It was Lim’s second provincials, as he also helmed the Burnaby North boys junior team a week earlier in Kelowna.
The Vikings finished the tourney with a powerful 2-0 win (25-16, 25-23) over Vernon, wrapping up a competitive series.
They finished second in pool play, beating Mount Sentinel 2-0 and Dawson Creek 2-1 to earn the pool’s No. 2 seed. Burnaby North kicked off the playoff round with a unlucky 2-0 loss (25-23, 25-21) to Fraser Valley and 2-1 to D.P. Todd.
