Burnaby North placed 17th at the B.C. high school junior boys' volleyball championships this weekend.
The junior Vikings opened with a close 25-20, 25-19 loss to eventual provincial champion Langley Fundamental in the team's first round-robin match.
North also lost to Fraser Valley No. 4 Langley Christian in straight sets.
North, which has represented the Burnaby/New Westminster district at the junior provincials for 13 of the past 14 years, then lost two very close threeset matches to Valleyview from Kamloops 25-23, 2125, 12-15 and Claremont from Victoria 18-25, 25-20, 13-15.
Langley Fundamental went on to defeat Penticton in four sets, while tournament host Mennonite Educational Institute of Abbotsford defeated Delta for the bronze medal.
In the boys' individual skills competition, North's Ryan Dong placed second and Karl Ding was third in the vertical jump competition, jumping more than three meet. Ding, at just 5-4 made the finals against two competitors that were more than six feet tall.
The local Focus Volleyball Club is looking for more players for its upcoming tryouts.
Interested boys and girls born in 1995 to 1999 are eligible for the upcoming club season. Tryouts will be held at the Harry Jerome Sports Centre on Dec. 3 and 4. Everyone is welcome.
For more information, please refer to the Focus Volleyball Club website at www.focusvolleyball.com.
VIKE GIRLS 12TH
The Burnaby North junior girls' volleyball team placed in a tie for 12th-place overall at the B.C. championships last weekend.
North fielded a team of just four junior-aged players, with nine from Grade 9 and one of bantam age.
"The big picture is that there are 260 teams trying to make it to this provincial tournament and coming in 12th out of 260 is not bad at all," said North coach Tony Laurita.
"I'm very happy for the girls. We did not expect to be playing this late into the year."
