Sweet silver
A
combination of poise and power led Kodiaks Red to national silver.
The Kodiaks, a 16-and-under boys team that represents the Prince George Youth Volleyball Club, earned the medal at the Volleyball Canada National West championships, which ran from Saturday to Monday in Calgary. The P.G. squad finished the 48team tournament with an 8-1 match record, the only loss against the WinMan Warriors in Monday’s final.
The contest for gold went the maximum three sets and the Winnipeg-based Warriors emerged with a 23-25, 25-14, 15-8 victory.
Right from the start of the tournament, Kodiaks coach Hans Minck noticed a calm, relaxed demeanour among the players. In Minck’s view, that cool mental approach played a huge role in the team’s success.
“They were horsing around instead of being tense, and there didn’t seem to be the nerves,” said Minck, who was also on the sidelines when the Kodiaks finished third at provincials earlier this month in Abbotsford. “It just seemed like we were destined for this moment. And I compared it (with fellow coach Austin Cromarty) to the provincials. When we were at provincials it looked like our guys were really uptight – it looked like they felt like they had to do really, really well. This time there was a calm confidence that seemed to emanate from them. I can’t tell you why, but honestly that’s what it seemed like to me. They just felt like they belonged there and they were going to go out and do well. Everything kind of just fell into place.”
In the championship match, played at the Calgary Olympic Oval facility, the Kodiaks battled to the narrow win in the first set and then got the expected push-back from the Warriors in the second.
“A team like them, they’re built on winning,” Minck said. “They finished second at nationals last year so they had a mission to win this year. They played better and we had a few brain cramps, a couple calls didn’t go our way. So we lost the second set and it went to the third.”
In the deciding set, the Kodiaks started strongly and built a 6-3 lead. After that, Minck said things started slipping away, due probably to fatigue.
“We only have nine kids on our team and they had a full roster of 12 or 13 guys,” he said. “We looked gassed. It was really warm in that Olympic Oval, and some of our boys – like my son (Nolan Minck) and the other power hitter on our team, Matt Shand – they played every minute of every match. So they played nine matches in the three days.”
The Kodiaks clinched their place in the final when they downed NAVC Griffins Black of Alberta 2125, 25-23, 15-13 in the semifinal round. In the quarters, Prince George swept the Junior Pilots of Manitoba 25-13, 25-16.
In the preliminary portion of the tournament, the Kodiaks opened with straight-sets victories against HVC White of Saskatchewan (2511, 25-12) and Canuck Red of Alberta (25-17, 25-23). Next came a satisfying win against Seaside Six Pack of White Rock, a team that edged the Kodiaks in three sets in the provincial semifinal, 15-13 in the third. This time, Kodiaks Red prevailed 25-21, 24-26, 17-15.
“We beat them and actually knocked them down into Tier 2,” Hans Minck said. “It actually felt pretty good. That was a proud moment right there.”
The Kodiaks then moved on to the power-pool round and tacked on three more wins – 25-13, 25-23 against CAKVC Black of Alberta, 25-21, 15-25, 15-10 against GPRC of Grande Prairie and 25-22, 2522 against United Volleyball Club of Manitoba.
Ultimately, the Kodiaks were the only B.C. team that qualified for the Tier 1 playoffs, reserved for the top eight teams. A victory in the final would have been great, but coaches Minck and Cromarty made sure the players were able to put the silver medal into perspective.
“There were a few tears but I think they realized they had done something really special,” Minck said. “We relayed that to them – that we were very proud of what they had done and that they had nothing to feel bad about. Top-two in 48 teams in a national tournament, I couldn’t have asked for more as a parent or a coach, that’s for sure.”
During the post-tournament awards ceremony, Nolan Minck and Shand were selected as allstars.
“They just did everything,” Hans Minck said. “They hit the ball well, they passed the ball well. They’re the kids that don’t get rattled. If they make a mistake they don’t let it bother them. They move on and keep playing.”
Hans Minck said middle blocker Christopher Magrath and setter Zach Ohori could easily have been named all-stars as well. However, tournament regulations stipulated only two players from the silvermedalist were eligible for individual recognition.
Other members of the Kodiaks are Colby Graham, Cole Johnston, Kyle McKee, Dayton O’Neil, Rafael Rodrigues and Nick Harding, who was not with the team for nationals.
Volleyball Canada also held a 16U National East tournament, May 4-7 in Waterloo, Ont. There is no crossover event.
A second PGYVC boys team, Kodiaks Black, posted a 3-4 overall record in Tier 2 and lost out in the playoff quarterfinals to the EKVC Avalanche of Alberta. Scores were 25-21, 25-23.
In girls competition at the 16U National West championships, Kodiaks Red finished with a 5-3 match record and was knocked out in the Tier 2 playoff semifinal after a 25-14, 25-22 loss to B.C. rival Thunder White.
It just seemed like we were destined for this moment. — Hans Minck