The gold medal match brought us up against a tall team from the Yukon. However, Apex Assault surpassed all expectations and easily defeated the team 25-7 in the first set and 25-15 in the second. The team proudly brought home the gold medal to Vancouver. The coaches (Tommy Li and Robyn Leuty) are extremely proud of this team and their accomplishments this year, as it wasn’t easy to learn to play together as a team with individuals who have only played on opposing sides of the net in the past. Thank you girls for an awesome season!

With a diluted roster that featured only 9 of the team’s 14 members, players were forced to take on new roles and new positions. Tenzin Ozaki, a rightside, and Charvet Truong, a leftside, starred in the middle, where they had barely played prior to this tournament.

Day 1 started at a very early 8:45, where the team used their morning strategy to defeat the Lancers from Manitoba 2-0. That was followed by another 2-0 victory over FOG from Alberta (one of three FOG teams), leading to a showdown with the provincial champions from Ontario, the Predators. However, the size and skill of the Predators proved too great, and AIrborne ended day 1 with a 2-1 record (the Predators wound up losing in the gold medal final).

Day 2 power pools started at an even earlier 7:30, and with most of the team still half asleep, Airborne dropped a closely contested first set against Park, before winning the 2nd and forcing a 3rd and final set. Some untimely errors and an injury to our already depleted roster made things difficult, and Airborne fell 2-1. The rest of the day did not go so well either, as Airborne dropped 2-0 decisions to 204 from Winnipeg, and CAKVC from Red Deer. This left us 4th in the power pool, and a tough draw in the Tier 3 playoffs.

The third and final day had Airborne up early again with a 7:30 start. The team’s experience playing early morning games had them prepared against the Jaguars from Alberta, and the boys emerged victorious, setting up a very good scenario: a top 4 finish in the tier, with a 75% chance at a medal. Unfortunately, the semi-final match had them pitted against a very strong FOG team. FOG’s size and fan support helped them to a consistently played match, something Apex could not counter with. A 2-0 loss set Airborne up with a bronze medal matchup against the Olympiens from Manitoba.

Knowing that they had worked so hard throughout the season and this being the last match of the year, the boys put together a very smart game plan and forced the Olympiens into a bunch of errors. Combined with a strong serving and digging game, good shot making from Richard Bui and Kashtin De Souza, a power game from Matty Hall-Stevenson, and precision setting from Brandon Nguyen, the team came together at the most important of times. Fueled by winning a spectacular rally that had fans cheering from the bleachers with “ooohs” and “aaahs,” and Hafeez Noormohamed’s presence at the net, Airborne shut the door on the Olympiens, taking home a bronze medal.

The team would like to thank Coach Derek Lai, who unfortunately could not make the trip, for his hard work during the season, whipping the boys into tip-top shape. As first year Apex members, the 9 athletes on this trip, as well as the 5 resting at home, acquitted themselves very well and we are looking forward to next season as they compete as U16s.

Another spectacularly fun year has come and gone as this year’s Apex Pulse team welcomed back 6 returning players and said hello to 6 brand new players and an assistant coach!

Before taking off for Calgary, the coaches had implemented a theme of 80′s retro for the trip! For warmup on one of the three days, the girls (and coaches) would dress up in their 80′s best. Girls were placed into 1 of 3 groups: The Bangles, The Go-Go’s, and Bananarama. Not only did they have to dress the part, but each group was also in charge of preparing one team lunch and one team dinner from scratch. The group that was best dressed, exhibited the most enthusiasm and prepared the best grub would win a prize!

Last year’s squad brought home a gold medal from Calgary in their tier and this year’s team went into the tournament not really knowing what to expect. After a tough day 1, the girls finished 3rd in their pool, placing them into Division 4. Maybe it was all the walking during their trip to the Calgary-famous Calgary Zoo that did them in on Day 1 but in any case, the girls knew they had to come out flying on Day 2 to place into the top tier in Div 4; and come out flying they did. In the first match on Day 2, Pulse faced Big Bear from Rivers, Manitoba, taking the match in straight sets 26-24, 25-20. Somehow we knew we’d see Big Bear down the road again…The second match saw the girls beat a very game Southwest Juniors team from Kilarney, Manitoba 2-1. That set up a showdown with Crush from Yellowknife with first place on the line. The girls did not disappoint disposing of Crush 2-0. The top of the division was now in sight heading into playoffs on Day 3…

Playoff day is always difficult at Nationals – win and you play on. Lose and you’re done like yesterday’s tacos. But to liven things up, remember the warmup 80′s dressup day? Well, it was saved for playoff Monday. Maybe it was the thought of spending 12 hours at the hotel doing nothing or maybe it was the desire of the girls to bring home the team’s second consecutive gold medal. In any case, the girls got by the Cold Lake Devils 2-0 and would finally face a BC team at Nationals: Coquitlam Ducks Kelli. After a tough loss 28-26 in the first set, Pulse rebounded to take set 2 handily 25-14. The third and deciding set saw the girls pull away at the end of the match 15-12 and it was off to the semi-finals! Oh, and might I add that even though the girls wore their 80′s best only during warmup of the first match, Tony wore his THE ENTIRE DAY. Could it be the lucky charm the girls needed?

In the semi-finals, Pulse faced Fog Force from Edmonton. In a game that went 3 sets, the score seemed to flatter Fog as Pulse dominated most of the game, scoring at will and frustrating their opponents mercilessly. It was during this match that Tony gave his most memorable speech of the season; the girls could have played their guts out to this point and could still leave with nothing but memories IF they didn’t continue to give it everything they had. The girls earned the victory in the third set 15-9. With that, the girls were assured of a medal but only one colour mattered.

In the finals, the girls faced, you guessed it, Big Bear one more time after Big Bear won an improbable match after losing the first set of their semi-final 25-5 against a team that Pulse had defeated on Day 1, the Ponoka Warriors from Alberta. The scouting report on the Bear indicated that they were a scrappy team that would go through a wall to save a ball and they certainly showed it throughout the championship final. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome barrage of offensive weapons displayed by Pulse as well as their much-improved defence. Pulse defeated Big Bear 2-0 to win their second consecutive GOLD MEDAL at Nationals but this year, gold also came with a Division Championship banner – the first and only such time an Apex team has ever done this!

Oh, if you were wondering who won the 80s contest…while Becca, Lindsey and Alexa aka The Bangles made a delicious chicken teriyaki and Liz, Ashley, Nikki and Kelly aka Bananarama made some fairly solid tacos sans tomatos, it was the combination of the Garlic prawns and out of this world costumes of Adrienne, Nicole, Eleanor and Natalie aka The Go-Go’s that stole the show! Their prizes? A gift card for each of them to Forever XXI, Aritzia, Sport Chek and Lululemon!! Great job by all of you…even those involved in Tomato-gate!

Just a few short days later, the girls were back on the court for their final tournament of the season: The Emerald City Classic in Seattle, Washington. Though many didn’t know, two different sports were played on this trip; volleyball, of course, but you may have heard of the other pasttime of teenaged girls: shopping. The girls were privileged to play against not one, but two teams from quite far away. The girls had the pleasure of playing against Impact from Hawaii (we still thank you for the wonderful Hawaiian gifts!) and Minas from Brazil. While the girls didn’t have too much success on the court, many deals were found at the malls and for that, the girls went 1-1 in the world of teenaged girls sports

Tony and Jessica would like to thank all the parents and chaperones for your time, energy, company, commitment and for making our jobs so much easier! We could not have done it without you!

To all of our girls: You make coaching an absolute pleasure. It was awesome seeing the improvement from each and every one of you and to see you girls grow as a team. I hope many of you choose to play beach this summer and that your high school senior season is a successful one! No one knows what next year will bring but I hope to see all of you again at tryouts for club season! Oh, and keep working on the vert….the net goes up to 2.24m!

Tony

Top 10 finishers include:

U18 Ninjas: 9th
U18 Giants: 10th
U17 XX: 10th
U16 Paranoia: 6th
U16 Boom: 7th
U15 Airborne: 6th
U15 Arsenal: 10th

Congratulations to the U15 Arsenal and U15 Shock for their successful seasons, which ended this past weekend! The remaining teams will now compete in the Canadian Opens, with some teams going to Seattle for two tournaments at the end of May.

Apex Boom participated in a large 24 team tournament over the three day long weekend at Trinity Western University and Langley Events Centre. It proved once again that Boom is off to a successful start to the club season and are contenders for the U16 boys’ age group.

On day 1, Boom faced fierce competition as a result of being placed in the power pool along with FVVC, Victoria and the Eagles. Boom was ranked 3rd heading into the playoffs after tough round robin matches which all but one set was decided by 5 points or less. After losing the last round robin match on day 2 in a close two set match against Victoria, Boom regrouped and refocused in a team chat involving all players and the coaches. The team evaluated and concluded that in order to advance far into the playoffs key contributions from role players, improving communication and executing a cleaner offense must be established.

Apex Boom bounced back from their earlier loss by winning 3 straight playoff matches on days 2 and 3. In addition, Boom demonstrated great depth by playing their entire roster throughout that span of games. As a result, the team made their way into the semi finals with a winner-take-all against FVVC. In the Fraser Valley Super Series, Boom won a thrilling game-of-the-tourney match in the quarter finals against the heavily powered FVVC. However, with home court advantage, FVVC came out into the semis firing on all cylinders, forged an early lead in both sets and Boom was unable to weather the storm.

Out of contention for 1st place, Boom refocused and placed their sights on 3rd. Boom was able to capture 3rd with a victory in 2 straight sets in the final game. The coaches were impressed by the development and learning curve of Colin Patterson and Armin K and also the solid play provided from Brady Wallace offensively and defensively throughout the tournament. Congrats to Kelvin Ma for being selected onto the All-Star team and Brandon Chin for being an Honourable mention in the tournament.

Coaches Kenny, Eric and Tommy

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.

On the second day, Impact went toe-to-toe with their fellow Apex players from 16U Paranoia. Though putting up a fight, Impact came up short and was forced to play FVVC Blue to capture 5th Place. The consistent tough-it-out style play that Impact had brought to the tournament had taken its toll as the team was defeated in their final match, placing them in a tie for 7th place.

Although Impact was starting to come together as a group, they still have their work cut out for them if they want to compete at the level they demonstrated they should be at. An overall great effort from everyone involved helped this team take its first few steps on the road to success in their volleyball careers.

Coach Pappas

Going into the tournament, the team was ranked 8th but quickly, teams were beginning to see the talent that Apex has been producing. Not only was Paranoia was getting praise from other teams, many coaches have talked about how talented and well rounded all 3 Apex teams were – Boom, Paranoia, and Impact.

During the first day of the tournament, Paranoia won all 3 of its round robin games (Eagles – who finished 2nd last year at Provincials, Vernon – Team Donovan, & Victoria B Chargers). After a 3-0 effort, the team finished first in their pool and prepared itself to be what was a successful Sunday morning and afternoon.

On Day 2 of the tournament, the boys looked determined to get to the finals. Their first opponent was against one of our Apex brothers, the U16 Impact. The Impact battled hard and with timely rotation checks by Coach Pappas, tried to stop team Paranoia. In the end, the Paranoia boys won 2-0 and were on their way to the semi-finals against their other brother team, Apex Boom. On a side note, Apex Boom probably had one of the games of the tournament during their quarter-final match. Their opponent during the quarter-final match was the very talented FVVC Blue. Apex Boom came out very strong during the first set and built a strong lead. However, FVVC climbed their way back and started to build momentum, but still lost the first set to Boom. During the second set, FVVC carried that momentum and built a large lead which resulted to a 24-18 score. But Boom would not give up; they clawed their way back to win 26-24 and booked their ticket to the semi-finals against Paranoia. Apex Boom definitely deserves a hand for their efforts of “never giving up.”

During the semi-final match, Paranoia came out very slow, and Boom carried their momentum, winning the first set. However, the Paranoia boys, lead by their captain Kevin Liu, would not let this opportunity to get to the finals slide. Paranoia battled back and won the match (2-1) against their friendly rivals of Boom. This booked Paranoia’s ticket to the finals against Victoria Chargers.

In the finals, the boys started slow once again. Victoria took advantage of the slow start and won the set 25-17. However, Paranoia finally woke up from their slow start and began to play the game of volleyball. Timely serving and defense by Tomas Rapaport and Derek Kwan lead the way. These two would come off the bench and go on serving runs which helped the boys to the tournament victory. Also, Michael Tran and Kevin Liu played a great match. They lead the team in kills and brought their “A” game to the match. The end result was a 2-1 victory by the Paranoia boys over the Victoria Chargers. Coach Tsang believes that this team has a lot of chemistry together and hopefully this is just a beginning to a successful season.

Coach Tsang

On Day 2, Pulse battled Synergy, defeating the club from Surrey 2-0. Next up was a date with the Vernon Vengance in the semi-finals. The other semifinal on the court next to Pulse was another team from the Okanagan, the Vernon Lizards vs. the same Campbell River Crush that had defeated Pulse on day 1 of pool play. Pulse knew that a win would set up a great matchup either way. The girls came out flying against the Vengance, led by the setting of team captain Adrienne Moopenn, the consistently clever hitting of Becca Arce and the best game of the tournament for both Ashley Sarazin and Lindsey Marks. Pulse went on to win 2-0 to guarantee themselves a top 2 finish. Ten minutes later, they would find out that they would have to contend with the ‘A’ team from Vernon, the Lizards. Although the girls battled hard, the strong serving of the Lizards proved to be too much as the Lizards won the Tier 2 crown 2-0.

With an overall finish of 18 out of 32 teams, the girls improved on their pre-tournament ranking by 5 spots and certainly ended the tournament on a high. The entire team knows it is only the first of many tournaments this year and know that they can push for a spot in Tier 1 come Provincials in April. However, they also know they’ll need to continue to work hard to improve their skills to become a more consistent and offensively dangerous team. Their next tournament is the Lower Mainland Super Series on March 27-28.

Tournament Results can be viewed at: http://volleyballbc.ca/index.asp?Page=939

Coach Tony

Things didn’t get a whole lot easier as Velocity was scheduled to face the Junior Bison White (Winnipeg), North49 Shock (Calgary), and their arch-rivals Kodiak Black (Prince George). After dropping their first two games of the day, Velocity knew they had to step it up against a Kodiak team that they had met and beaten twice before. Unfortunately, a little bit of complacency sank in and the girls weren’t able to do the things that had made them successful in the past against the Kodiaks.

The soul-searching was on with the conclusion of Day 2 and with Day 3′s playoffs looming the next day. Velocity would be playing in Division 2 Tier 4 on Playoff Monday; more importantly, they were looking to salvage a little pride. Things seemed a little tense as the group had not experienced a funk like this since the Season Opener. In the most spontaneous of ways, a “basketball” game broke out that saw Ninja take on not 1, 2, or even 3 …but 4 players! Nancy Tran, Diane Nguyen, Nicole Smith, and Adrienne Moopenn believed (and correctly so) that 4 of them equaled 1 Ninja. Ninja thought he had bought enough cheese for the girls’ lunches but apparently not – no problem, he made swiss cheese out of the girls, slicing and dicing his way through their so-called “defence” en route to 20 points. But not all was fun and games. The girls called an emergency team meeting later that evening where not only concerns were voiced, but suggestions on how to fix them as well. Needless to say, Ninja was quite impressed with the way the team handled the adversity but the girls still had to walk the walk…

In a twist of pure coincidence, Apex Velocity would face Fog Velocity (Edmonton) in the quarter-final matchup; one thing was for certain: one Velocity would be moving on to the semis while the other Velocity would be packing its bags. The team passed exceptionally well throughout the game led by their best passer all season long, Diane Nguyen. As the coach has emphasized all season long, good passing goes a long ways! Not only did they get some great passing, Angel Cheng smashed a back-row attack that got her teammates absolutely jacked for the rest of the day. Apex took the match in straight sets 25-22, 25-18. On to the semi-finals!

Next up were the RVC Cyclones (Regina). After a relatively easy 25-18 victory in the first set, Velocity had the Cyclones right where they wanted them. The Cyclones were clearly frustrated and had few answers for the smooth-passing and efficient hitting of Velocity. The second set was a completely different story as the Cyclones wrestled away momentum from Velocity with a 25-22 win, setting up a third and final set to 15. Now, if you’ve been following Velocity all season long, you would know that 3rd sets haven’t exactly been their forte. For whatever reason, Velocity seemed to disappear when it mattered the most and this 3rd set started off no differently. The Cyclones took a speedy lead and before Velocity knew what hit them, it was 9-4 for the club from Regina. Ninja knew, and had been telling his girls all season long: No risk, no reward. With a sideout and Arielle Rempel set to serve, Ninja substituted Nancy Tran in for the server. This move to put a cold arm in would pay off as Nancy served lights out the rest of the way through. Imagine the excitement and anticipation of being up 9-4 and thinking you’re about to win…only to watch the other team claw back point by point to get closer, to tie, and then to take the lead. A combination of great serving by Nancy and rattled nerves on the Cyclones led to the improbable and miraculous comeback by Velocity 15-9! The girls had re-written the idea that they couldn’t play in 3rd sets! Heading to the finals with a medal assured, Velocity was quite satisfied…

…But clearly there was more than just a gold medal on the line. The team that stood between them and gold was a team they had faced on day 1, and lost 2-0. RUSH came into the game with a lot of swagger and confidence, knowing they had beaten us soundly two days before. However, they failed to recognize the unbelievable momentum that Velocity had going on this third and final day of Nationals. Velocity came out guns-a-blazin’ in set 1 winning the set 25-21. RUSH trotted out an entirely different lineup for set 2 and it worked as they took it 25-22. A gold medal match pushed to the 3rd and final set – would there be a better way to determine a winner? Once again, the girls came out slow but managed to stay close enough to not let the game get out of reach. After the switching of sides at 8 points, the girls hit their second wind and put the game into overdrive. They knew what was at stake and they played their hearts out during each rally. On match point, it was a great pass that paved the way for a set to the middle, which Arielle Rempel crushed giving Velocity the win 15-10! The gold medal was there for the taking and in a season in which Ninja had told the girls to “earn their points”, they could not have earned one in a more meaningful situation than Championship Point.

With a season behind them and a gold medal that carries a lifetime of stories, the girls celebrated by indulging a little at Wendy’s. Hopefully the girls stick with the program handed out at the beginning of the year even during the off-season (so not too much bubble tea!!) Tony would like to thank all the parents and in particular Jo-Ann, Teresa, Alex, Deacon, Gwen and the Furey’s for their support and assistance over the course of the season and throughout Nationals. Without your encouragement and help, the season would not have been as successful as it was for the girls!

It was amazing to see how far you have all developed since that first practice. With a group that was quite new to competitive volleyball, things will only get better each year!
I look forward to seeing all of you at tryouts in December 2009/January 2010…until then, keep playing volleyball and look to get faster, stronger, and higher – the net only goes up!

Ninja