Winning three games out of four isn’t bad in its own right, but taking the title from the first-ranked school in your region?
Now that’s just sweet.
So accomplished the Grade 8 boys Prince Rupert Middle School’s (PRMS) Storm volleyball team in late November, with a two-game sweep of Bulkley Valley Christian School (BVCS) to claim the 2014 zones championship for the area school.
“It was back and forth for the first little bit against BVCS and then PRMS just ended up winning,” said sponsor teacher Denise Wilson.
With Liam McChesney taking home Most Valuable Player (MVP) honours and Eric Lees grabbing an all-star nod, the Storm conquered schools around the region including teams from Terrace and Smithers on their way to the championship.
The win came on the heels of the Charles Hays (CHSS) junior girls Rainmaker volleyball squad taking the ‘B’ zone championship in mid-November when they downed Hazelton for the title.
Coached by Nancy Le and Jade Rowse, the Charles Hays junior girls’ volleyball Rainmakers learned a lot from the two, and CHSS teacher Danielle Dueck mentioned that the team wouldn’t have gotten far without the guidance of Le and Rowse.
“They did a fabulous job preparing the girls for zones,” said Dueck in an email.
“It was awesome that the girls got two coaches because it meant they had twice the support and feedback,” she said.
The Rainmakers beat Hazelton in three games straight in their best-of-five contest to take the Northwest 2014 “B” title in November.
“Another cool thing that the junior girls commented on when we were heading back from Hazelton was that these two were the ‘real’ MVPs of the season. It was a great thing to hear from [them] because they were so appreciative of all the work Nancy and Jade put in to make the team like family and to work as a unit rather than just a random group,” said Dueck.
With the volleyball, boys’ soccer and rugby sevens season over, the Northwest high school sports scene will now turn to basketball, wrestling, curling and skiing for the winter semester.
The junior and senior boys and girls’ basketball squads have already been practicing, gearing up for the 2014-15 season.