The 18U Flex, 17U Concussion, and 17U Klutch boys teams started their competitive seasons together at a playday hosted by the Air Attack Volleyball Club at the new Richmond Olympic Oval on Saturday. Our 3 teams competed in informal matches against teams from the Focus Volleyball Club, Victoria Volleyball Association, and the host Air Attack Volleyball Club.

The 18U Flex finished in a tie for 3rd with wins against Victoria 17/18U (2-0), and Victoria 18U (2-1), and losses to top ranked Focus Pounders (2-0) and Focus Fire (2-1). Flex boasts one of (if not) the fastest offenses in the province and found that it was quite effective against bigger teams at this tournament. Some fine tuning throughout the season should lead to a successful one for our most senior group.

The 17U Klutch finished in 5th place, defeating Air Attack 17U (2-0), splitting matches with Victoria 18U (2-1 round robin loss, 2-1 playoff win), and a loss to Air Attack 18U (2-1). Coach Blair used a variety of lineups to try to find the right mix of skill, size, and energy throughout the day. Setter Ryan Mew was selecte by Blair as “Player of the Day.”

The 17U Concussion, who battled through tough injuries and unavailable players (and coaches), finished in 7th, beating Air Attack 17U (2-1) and Victoria 17/18U (2-0), and losses to Air Attack 18U (2-1) and Focus Pounders (2-0). With all 4 power hitters missing from action by the end of the day (Brandon Chin: personal matters; Simon Dang: illness; Fabian Eppard: injury; Joshua Wong: injury), the team coped with 2 rightsides playing leftside, and a middle playing rightside to come back from 1 set down and 5-0 down in the 3rd and deciding set against Air Attack to win 15-13. Props to Daniel Ieong and Markiel Simpson for playing out of position and stepping up when needed.

The playday, along with getting the 3 teams getting some playing time against other clubs, served another purpose: the provincial championships will be hosted at the same facility on the last weekend of April. Getting accustomed to sightlines and lighting will hopefully give our Apex guys an advantage come the most important tournament of the year.