The Timberline Wolves Senior Girls Volleyball team are heading to the AAA championships in Kelowna after an impressive second place finish at the Island Championships this past weekend.
The Wolves travelled to SMU in Victoria as the number two seed but knew it would be a challenging tournament as five of the teams at Islands were ranked in the top 10 in the province. With only three berths allocated to Island teams, they knew they were in for a battle as all the teams are so evenly matched.
The Wolves started off by sweeping round robin play, defeating Vic High 25-19 and 25-7; Carihi 25-23 and 27-25 and SMU 25-9 and 25-19. Winning the pool gave them a bye to the semi final and assured them of a top four finish.
In the semi-final, they played NDSS in a best of five match and won 25-22, 25-23, and 25-19. This win put them through to the final and the team was elated as they knew they had qualified for the BCs.
In the finals, Timberline met Brooks, the number one ranked team in the province. Brooks is very experienced. A team with almost all Grade 12 students, they are composed and powerful. Timberline has only one Grade 12, back row specialist Tianna Hudak. The remainder of the team is half Grade 11 students and half Grade 10 students.
The final was a great battle, featuring long rallies and amazing plays. Timberline won the first set 25-22, then lost the next three 23-25, 19-25, 20-25.
“I was so proud of how my young team played and it is really exciting to think about their future,” coach Terry Philp says. “This is a special group of young ladies and they are a pleasure to coach.”
The five North Island teams ended up finishing first through fifth in the tournament. Beside Brooks and Timberline, the other qualifier was NDSS (Nanaimo) in third place. Mark Isfeld of Comox placed fourth and will be travelling to Vancouver next weekend to challenge for a wild card berth to the BC's.
Carihi finished fifth in the tournament.