Belmont girls taking another title run
Bulldogs sitting at top of Quad A provincial rankings as second half of the year begins
Coach Mike Toakley wondered if his Belmont Bulldogs might fly under the girls’ volleyball radar this season.
The Bulldogs, of Victoria, had all eyes on them last year in the Quad A ranks, considering they returned every player from the provincial champions.
There were massive expectations.
Sure enough, they won it all again last December at the Langley Events Centre, but they graduated all but setter Taylee Pomponio, power hitter Jocelyn Sherman, middle blocker Aspen Nemeth and right side Gracie May off that squad.
Guess what? They’re up to their old tricks with largely a new team. They have a 31-2 match record to start the current campaign and Belmont is at the top of the Quad A provincial rankings.
The X is back on our backs … This group is enjoying that, though.” Coach Mike Toakley
“It’s been wonderful so far this season, but we do realize that the second half of the year matters far more than the first half,” explained Toakley.
“The X is back on our backs. I figured that this year teams wouldn’t be gunning for us as much, but the second time the rankings came out we were back on top and we are having to deal with that all over again. This group is enjoying that, though. They’re embracing the challenge.”
Like so many standout high school programs in a variety of sports, coaching is a key. Toakley had guided the volleyball team at Belmont since 1987 and handled the girls’ team since 1999. He retired from teaching fulltime in the spring, but he’s back at the helm as a volunteer coach.
More telling, he’s also been a club volleyball coach with the Victoria Volleyball Association and many of Belmont’s players during this run have been under his tutelage for years.
Pomponio, for instance, has played on Toakley teams of some sort for the past eight years.
“We’re so lucky to have him as our coach,” Pomponio said.
Belmont also had enough players interested last year that they ran two teams. The second squad played locally, Toakley said. It means that many of their newcomers aren’t new to senior-level competition.
“I think we’ve come together really well as a team already,” Pomponio said. “We practise hard as a team. We train hard as a team. We’ve all bonded really well.
“I think if we keep practising hard and keep getting better and get a full commitment from everyone, we have a chance to do it again.”
Toakley added: “The four returning girls have done an excellent job of leading, and the new players have gotten up to speed quite quickly.”
Belmont lost to South Delta in a Dover Bay tournament early in the year and then fell to Little Flower Academy in the final of the UBC tournament.