Two weeks ago at the season-opening Fraser Valley Super Series, the U18 Ninjas finished atop their pool in the round robin, only to lose to the eventual tournament champion Vernon Venom in the quarter-finals 2-1. The loss to Venom prevented the team from a top 4 finish. Adding to the disappointment was an 8-3 lead that evaporated into thin air during the race to 15 in the final set, with the final score being 15-9 in favour of the Venom. Our group of “Vancouver All Stars” proved that they were a provincial power, finishing 6th out of 20, but still had a few kinks to work out.

After a series of training sessions designed to fine tune the team’s blocking schemes and attack tempos, the Ninjas looked for a better overall performance at this past weekend’s Okanagan Super Series held in Kelowna.

On day 1, the Ninjas were placed as the lowest ranking team in the first power pool, partnered with the familiar Vernon Venom team, and our friendly rivals, Focus Xplosion. Consistency could not be found during these first 2 matches, both ending in 2-0 defeats, but a tight round-of-16 victory against the hometown Kelowna Kong (25-23, 25-23) put the team right back in the thick of things: a guaranteed top 8 finish.

Day 2 started with the quarter-final match versus the Focus Pounders, who defeated the Ninjas 2-0 (25-18, 29-27) in the 5th place match two weeks prior. Armed with some motivation to avenge the loss, the Ninjas fought valiantly point-for-point with the Pounders, but could not find any rhythm or sustained consistent play, and fell 25-22, 22-25, 15-10. This brought the team’s record in 3rd sets to 2-2, with the 2 losses coming in QF matches.

The boys came out firing in the 5th place game, defeating EKVC 25-23, 25-15 to go home in 5th (out of 19), and a 2nd top 6 finish this season. Up next is the Spartan Invitational in two weeks time where the competition will be tough, but will definitely serve as a measuring stick as the team strives to peak by the provincial tournament in early May.