Islander Chase to join national volleyball team

Sarah Chase of Campbell River, an outside hitter with piercing spiking ability, has been named to the Canadian national women’s volleyball team.

Chase was the Island high school championship tournament MVP in both 2013 and 2014. She led Timberline Secondary to the B.C. Triple-A championship game in her Grade 12 year in 2014.

The Islander completed her junior year in the U.S. collegiate NCAA Div. 1 at St. Mary’s, where injuries limited her to 17 of the 28 games but she still managed 80 kills and 129 digs on the season. As a sophomore, Chase was named All West Coast Conference second-team all-star in beach volleyball.

The six-foot Chase and her national teammates, centralized at the Richmond Olympic Oval, will play in the 17th Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup from Sunday to July 14 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Canada will be in Pool A with Peru, Costa Rica and the host Dominicans. Pool B will include the U.S., Cuba, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago, with Pool C consisting of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia.

The top five teams in the tournament will qualify for the 2019 Pan American Games next year in Lima, Peru.

The other B.C. players named to the Canadian team include Brianna Beamish and Kiera Van Ryk of Surrey, Emily Maglio of Coquitlam and Alicia Perrin of Creston.

Chase looks to Tokyo 2020 and continues a tradition of Island players on national volleyball teams, both indoors and on the beach. The latest included Victorians Fred Winters and Jamie Broder in the 2016 Rio Olympics and Martin Reader of Comox in the 2012 London Olympics.