The Elphinstone Secondary School junior girls' volleyball team's incredible run for the provincials came to an abrupt end Friday night in Burnaby. Elphi lost in three games to Alpha from Burnaby in the Vancouver and District semifinals. Elphi later beat Argyle in two sets to finish third overall.
"It was a strange game against Alpha," said coach Jan Richey. "They weren't particularly a strong team. I think they had two good players, but we didn't play up to our game and they were finding our holes. It's very disappointing because I felt we were the better team. The home crowd was also hard to deal with. They were extremely noisy when we were serving, though you have to deal with that."
The team was hopeful they might earn a wild card berth into the provincial championships, but that also fell through on Saturday.
"I found out on Saturday that the Kootenays and the Island had committed to a berth, so there was no wild card," said Richey. "After an incredible season, that was hard to take because I know our team could do very well at provincials. We have beaten all the top teams from the North Shore, Coquitlam, Richmond and Burnaby. I am very proud of the team. They have raised their game to another level and know now how to win tough matches. I think this will transfer into our club season and hopefully make for a strong team that will be competitive with the top club teams in the province."
Elphi got off to a sizzling start at the Vancouver and District playdowns, going undefeated last Wednesday, winning all three matches and finishing first in their pool.
Elphi beat Cambie, the number one team from Richmond, in two sets and then took on Handsworth, the number one team from the North Shore.
Handsworth beat Elphi quite handily in league play, but it was a different story this time around as Elphi edged Handsworth 15-11 in the third game to win the match.
"That was a nice feeling because we really dominated them throughout," Richey added. "I don't think they took us too seriously. They beat us the first game and were quite nonchalant on the court. I told my girls I didn't like that feeling and they should go out and play like they can - and they sure did."
Elphi then took on the number two team from Burnaby Mountain. The game proved to be a tall order for the Coast girls.
"Every girl on that team is 5'8" and in the warm up they really were hitting hard," Richey said. "We won the first game, lost the second and then came back and won the third 15-11. They are a hard-hitting team but we found their middle hole and just kept putting it there and they never adjusted. The girls played unbelievable volleyball, totally raised their game and played together as a team."
