It’s water under the bridge for Burnaby’s Moscrop Panthers.
Members of the Panthers senior boys volleyball team have healed a few scrapes and rested sore muscles since the 3-A provincials concluded two weeks ago in Langley.
The memories of an arduous run and a fourth-place finish will last a lot longer.
Although the season ended with a 3-0 loss to Claremont in the bronze medal match, Moscrop coach Jerry Yan feels the sum total of their efforts and determination was medal worthy.
“Oh man, it’s been a long season,” Yan wrote in an email to the NOW. “We started late August and ended on Dec. 1. Everyone on the team worked really hard day-in and day-out to earn everything that we’ve accomplished. Adding another fourth-place finish to the Moscrop senior boys program is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Placing second at the Lower Mainlands gave the Burnaby boys a measure of motivation to start the B.C.s, where they were locked into a tough pool. But they emerged hungry and took down crosstown rival Burnaby Central 3-1. That vaulted them into a quarterfinal match against Oak Bay, where they prevailed 3-0.
It meant another showdown with Lower Mainland champ Van Tech, who two weeks earlier usurped the Panthers in that final.
It had a similar ending, too, with the Talismen holding the upperhand in a 3-1 win.
The first two sets were intense and tightly fought, with Van Tech coming out ahead 25-23, 26-24.
“We were on the bottom side of that trade off in the first two sets where we had a few errors towards the end of each set which gave Tech the advantage,” Yan noted. “Regardless, those two sets were really fun to watch because both teams were consistent on serve reception and were siding-out really well.”
Moscrop took the third set 21-25, but couldn’t carry it over, falling 25-20 in the fourth set.
After that loss, rising to play Claremont for third place was a final test of resilience. In that department, the Island team had an edge.
“I don’t think our guys bounced back well after the loss in the semifinals. Claremont came out strong and their block-defence gave us a lot of trouble. They served and passed better than (we did) as well, and they deserved that win.”
Picking up all-star awards were Martin Prinsloo (first team) and Ted Graveson (second team), while the coach said Grade 11 setter Ryan Kam and libero Simon Sheehan had strong tournaments.
It was the third time in recent years that Moscrop finished fourth at the B.C.s.
“All-in-all this team overcame a lot of adversity and I’m happy they are able to walk away content, and I hope they’re able to look back at their season as a highlight of their lives,” added Yan.
