The Elphi Cougars have one more step to complete.
Last week, the senior girls volleyball team placed third overall at the AAA Vancouver/District playdowns, earning a berth in the 16-team AAA provincial championships set to start next Thursday in Prince George.
After winning the North Shore title two weeks ago, Elphi began play last Wednesday in Vancouver for the chance to go to Prince George.
The Cougars opened the Vancouver/District playdowns with a pair of convincing two-set wins over John Oliver Secondary from Vancouver and Cambie Secondary from Richmond. Those two wins earned the Cougars a bye into the quarter-finals, which started Saturday.
Elphi took on Suther-land in the quarters and beat them in two straight, although head coach Jan Richey admitted they were both tight sets.
That set up a semifinal date with Little Flower Academy from Vancouver.
"We played them before. They're a good team," Richey said. "We won the first set 25-17 and then I think we let our guard down a bit. We had several serving errors and lost the last two sets and the match. It was too bad because if we would have played the way I know we're capable of, we would have beaten them."
The loss dropped Elphi down to the third/fourth place game where they took on McMath from Richmond. The Cougars won both sets.
"It wasn't pretty, but we won," Richey said.
Elphi is seeded fifth for the provincials. They have been placed in pool C alongside third-seed Brooks Secondary from Powell River, ninth-seed Elgin Park from Surrey and 17th-seed McMath.
DW Poppy from Langley is seeded number one followed by Alpha Secondary from Burnaby, Little Flower is fourth, Timberline from Campbell River is sixth, Duchess Park from PG is seventh, Brookswood from Langley is eighth, Elgin Park from Surrey is ninth, Holy Cross from Surrey is 10th, Wellington Secondary from Nanaimo is 11th, Sa-Hali from Kamloops is 12th, Fulton from Vernon is 13th, Kelly Road from PG is 14th and Smithers is the 16th seed.
The 16 teams have been placed in four pools for pool round play that begins Thursday. All teams will play three games within their respected pools. The Cougars face Elgin Park in the morning, followed by McMath and Brookswood in the afternoon.
The playoffs start Friday with the teams re-seeded based on their pool records playing a winner-take-all game. The winning teams from the first eight playoff games advance to the championship side of the draw, while the remaining eight teams drop down to the consolation side.
The playoffs continue all day Friday and into Saturday with the gold medal match slated for Saturday night.
Tournament games will be played at Prince George and Kelly Road Secondary Schools and College of New Caledonia."We'll be practising hard all week to get prepared," Richey said. "I have Jesse Knight coming here from UBC to help get us ready. I think everyone is excited about this opportunity. It's going to be tough, but I think we can do very well."
Besides lots of extra practice time, the Cougars are also busy raising funds for the trip.
The team was originally going to drive to Prince George, but given all the recent stormy weather have decided to fly instead.
That has added an addition $3,500 to their costs bringing the total to well over $6,000. The business community has already stepped up to the plate with donations, but more is needed. The team will be at SuperValu in Gibsons from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday bagging groceries as a team fundraiser. The school is also accepting donations. Call principal John Clements at 604-886-2204 if you'd like to help.
The school is also holding a pep rally from 9 to 10 a.m. next Tuesday to help send the team off in style.
