The Comox Valley Strikers U16 girls volleyball team has been steadily building momentum in the first month of season play. This past weekend the team came out with a second place finish in Tier 2 play.
On Saturday, Emily Novak and Madii Duek put in strong performances in the team's opening games, where the Strikers were edged out by an evenly matched Langley team with scores of 26-24 and 25-17.
The Strikers then took the best-of-three games against Air Attack from Richmond 25-18, 23-25 and 15-12. The final match on Saturday did not go the Strikers' way against Altruista from Abbotsford as they took the match in two games, 25-20 and 25-21. The Strikers demonstrated good mental focus throughout these closely fought matches.
Sunday’s first match against Port Alberni was punctuated with strong serving from Madii Gold and Keziah Magor. Emma Hill covered a key block to keep one rally alive, while a pass by Sam Regehr to setter Teryn Bates allowed for a quick set back to Regehr for the kill. These great team dynamics brought the Stikers another match win with scores of 25-17 and 25-11.
Next up was a match against Air Attack from Richmond whom the Strikers played on Saturday, winning in three. This time around with strong serving from Jessica MacLean, Madi Gold, Bates and Magor, the team disposed of the Attack in just two games. Katinka Neumann scored two big back row hits while Regehr had three big blocks and Gold put down three kills to sharpen the arsenal against the Attack and take the games with scores of 25-23 and 25-12.
In the final match against VS Action from Burnaby, the Strikers battled hard with both Dueck and Bates sharing setting duties. MacLean brought her consistent tough serve to the battle but it was not quite enough to rally the Strikers over the final six points and the VS Action won 25-19 in the first game and a tight 25-22 in the second to close out the match in their favour.
The Strikers are continuing to sharpen their game in preparation for the next Super Series Tournament taking place April 5-6 in Coquitlam.
– Strikers U16 Girls Volleyball