The Duncan Christian School Chargers made history with a silver medal as they came within a match of winning gold at the Island junior boys volleyball championship in Courtenay last weekend.
The second-place finish was the best in DCS history at the Island junior boys volleyball tournament.
The Chargers battled throughout the tournament to reach the final, where they lost 25-19, 25-21 to the host Mark R. Isfeld Ice.
"At the beginning of the tournament I told the boys that we should be in the final on Saturday, and they deserved to be there," head coach Jim Brandsma said.
Unlike at the senior levels, junior sports are not divided by school size, so DCS was up against teams from much bigger schools. That didn't intimidate the Chargers, who won their first match against AAAA Oak Bay 25-20, 19-25, 15-12. Continuing pool play, they lost a three-set match to Isfeld 16-25, 25-14, 15-7, then defeated Ballenas 26-24, 25-16 to finish second in their pool.
"The boys had their ups and downs on Friday," Brandsma said.
The Chargers dispatched Woodlands 25-12, 25-23 in the quarterfinal and Pacific Christian 25-22, 21-25, 15-13 in the semis to advance to the final and a rematch against Isfeld.
"Our semifinal and final were the best five games that we could play, and we fell just a bit short," Brandsma said. "All the boys worked hard throughout the year to help get our team to this point and this was something we talked about at the beginning of the year as being one of our goals."
Adding to the team success, players Mike Brandsma and Adam Kapteyn were named to the Island all-star team.
"It was very rewarding to be working with a good group of guys who work hard and give more when more is asked of them," coach Brandsma said. "It was truly a memorable season."