Having been knocked out of the Richmond play-offs, McRoberts Strikers’ juvenile girls volleyball team had written off playing in the South Fraser Championships.
Their coach had actually collected their uniforms, thinking their season was over.
But when a fifth berth opened up, McRoberts was added to last week’s competition, joining Steveston London, Holy Cross, Richmond High, Burnett and McMath.
And not only did the girls compete in the championships, they won the whole thing, defeating fellow Richmond school McMath 3-1 (25-17, 10-25, 25-12, 25-22).
Hosted by McRoberts and McNair, the championships ran from Nov. 7 to 9.
In the semi-finals, McRoberts defeated Holy Cross and McMath defeated Richmond Secondary to set up the final. Richmond Secondary took home the bronze medal.
McRoberts and McMath now head to the Provincial Championships this Friday and Saturday at Lord Tweedsmuir in Surrey, as number one and two seeds, respectively, from the South Fraser region.
The first team all-stars from the championships were:
Lauryn Sever - McRoberts
Asia Sovde - McRoberts
Gisele Carvalho - McRoberts
Maddy McGregor - McMath
Briana Dejo Balbuena - McMath
The championship-winning members of the McRoberts Strikers were: Emma Wong, Gisele Carvalho, Ella Chiu, Noryn Mendoza, Kaiya Mannapso, Ava Teixeira, Elaine Clarke, Lauryn Sever, Naurin Thind, Asia Sovde, Leona Liu, Hannah Prisco.
Their coaches were:
Jeena Hermano, Adam Short, Gabriel Shinkarik, Jenelle Dee, Sherri Frier.
Elsewhere in the South Frasers, Burnett’s junior boys took bronze, as did McMath’s junior girls, while McMath’s Grade 8 girls took silver.
