Bulkley Valley Christian School (BVCS) is jumping for joy after they won the title in the boy’s Grade 7 and 8 volleyball zone championships in Terrace last weekend.
Coach Ben Dejong said that the team was a bit of a surprise but played extremely well throughout the competition.
“We performed the basics very well. They played really well as a team. They were able to get three touches every time. They could get a bump, set and spike and did a great job achieving that in this tournament. A couple of boys had great serving and that scored them a lot of points.”
Dejong said that the team was ecstatic. In the finals they met a team from Prince Rupert which had defeated them in the preliminary round.
“They were really excited because they got to bring home the banner for the school,” he said.
“Before their last game the boys had a little prayer meeting. One of their grandmothers had told them that if they were tired and they needed strength that they should pray. They had a quick little meeting right before the game.”
BVCS tightly took the first of three games but came up short in the second match. The last game showed that the team was made of the right stuff as they dominated and took the game 15-2 to win the championship.
One BVCS player, Jakob Bandstra, was named the MVP of the tournament.
The competition was held in Terrace and consisted of teams from schools around the region. Since there is no provincial championship competition for Grade 7 and 8 teams, their season is now finished. Most of the boys will go on to play other sports such as basketball.
Dejong is optimistic about the team’s future.
“Next year we lose a few boys to the junior level but we had a few of the Grade 7s who were strong players and a couple who were starters. They’ll continue on and we’ll have to see what the upcoming 7s are like. We should have a couple strong years at BVCS,” he said.