SIDNEY — The Parkland Secondary School senior boys volleyball team earned valuable experience at the provincial championships at the Langley Events Center earlier this month.
The Panthers went into the tournament ranked third from the Island’s AA teams. In their first round robin match, the locals played Island rival Ballenas (Parksville), ranked Island #2.
“We had played them four previous times and beat them in tie-breakers each time,” said coach Lorne Chan. “We won the first game 25-22 but Ballenas bounced back in the second set to win 25-21.”
The third game see-sawed back and forth and Ballenas etched out the win, 15-13.
In the second match, Parkland faced Lower Mainland #1, Richmond. Richmond won the first game but the Panthers stormed back in the second to set up a 15 point tie-breaker. Richmond was able to maintain a small lead to capture the win.
In the Panthers’ third match, they played Smithers, North West #1. Smithers took the first game. The Panthers passed and spiked the ball much better in the second game and won that one handily. This, again, set up another tie-breaker and Smithers was able to hold on.
In the first round of their playoffs, Parkland had to play M.E.I., the top seeded team in the tournament. M.E.I. team beat the Panthers decisively but it was probably the best match that the Panthers played in the tournament, said Chan.
“Overall, it was a great experience for the team to face the best teams in the province.”
The Panthers lost to Pacific Academy and Richmond again to round out the provincial tournament.
— Submitted by Lorne Chan/Parkland Secondary