After a strong start that saw them win all three of their round-robin matches, the Duncan Christian School Chargers ended up placing eighth at the provincial single-A girls volleyball championships in South Slocan last weekend.
There was no shortage of drama for the Chargers as all three of their pool games went the full distance of three sets.
The team opened with a 21-25, 25-20, 15-10 win over Fernie, with Brenna Bazinet’s serving leading the way as DCS came from behind in the second set.
Powerhouse Kelowna Christian was the Chargers’ next victim. The Chargers held on for a 28-26 win in the opening set, then fell 25-21 in the second before claiming the third set 15-13.
Finally, they beat host Mount Sentinel, another title contender, 24-26, 25-22, 16-14.
Following pool play, the teams were re-seeded, and the Chargers ended up ranked fourth. With matches now best-of-three, the Chargers got through the first round by sweeping Queen Charlotte 25-14, 25-18, 25-15. It wasn’t until the quarterfinals that DCS finally lost a match, falling 25-27, 25-14, 25-23, 23-25, 15-4 in an intense back-and-fourth battle with Credo Christian.
The loss sent the Chargers to the consolation round, where they lost a rematch with Fernie 25-17, 25-21.
“It was tough for the team to get up for this match after losing a tough battle against Credo,” coach Roger Kim said.
Finally, playing for seventh place, the Chargers lost another rematch, this time against Mount Sentinel, 25-22, 19-25, 15-11.
Trailing 11-2 in the final set, the Chargers refused to go down without a fight and came back thanks largely to nine straight serves by Emily Harder.
Danielle Groenendijk, the Island tournament MVP, was named to the provincial second all-star team, while Juliet King also contributed to the Chargers’ powerful offence, as she had done all season.