The Grand Forks Secondary (GFSS) junior girls volleyball team traveled to L.V. Rogers in Nelson for the West Kootenay championships and came away with top spot.
The girls played well in the round-robin, finishing second in their pool after beating Stanley Humphries (Castlegar) and splitting with Mt. Sentinel (South Slocan) and the host Bombers. In the quarter-final round, the Wolves met Boundary Central (Midway) and won in two straight games.
In the semi-finals, GFSS squared off against J.L. Crowe (Trail) also in two straight.
In the final, the Wolves face Nakusp who had knocked off perennial powerhouse Mt. Sentinel.
“We won the first game handily in the best of three but Nakusp came back to win the second with some inspired defensive play,” said coach David Dunnet.
In the final game, GFSS got out to an early lead at 6-4. After some long rallies, the Wolves held the lead and got to game point at 14-11.
“On the final point, Shay McPeak hit the winning spike which was unreturnable,” said Dunnet. “Every player made important plays that contributed to the wins. It was an outstanding end to a season that saw all of the players improve. Middle blocker Alyssa Makortoff was dominant at the net and scored many points with her blocks and hits.”
Setter Riley Steinbach said the team played very well together.
“We’re all good friends and we’re able to talk to each other and help each other out,” she said. “We do get frustrated with one other from time to time but we’re all really competitive in games.”
Steinbach said winning a tournament in Mt. Sentinel the week before gave the team a lot of confidence heading into the playoffs.
“I had a good feeling heading in,” added Makortoff. “I knew we had a good team. It was a lot of fun.”