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Senior girls volleyball team on a roll

Whistler Secondary Storm aiming for berth in provincials

By Andrew Mitchell

The Whistler Secondary Storm senior women’s volleyball team is off to a strong start this season, recently winning a round robin tournament at home.

On Nov. 2, Storm hosted three teams from the Lower Mainland, placing first overall with a record of five wins and one loss. The teams they beat include John Oliver Secondary, St. John’s, and Bodwell Secondary.

Of those teams only John Oliver is in the ‘A’ category for small schools, while others were AA or AAA.

This was the team’s second tournament of the year. They placed a tournament in Victoria Oct. 21-22, placing first in their pool after round robin play, and finishing fifth out of seven teams.

“We did surprisingly well considering, again, we were playing against AAA and AAAA schools and we are a single A school,” said coach Myrna Iaconetti-Bush. “All the teams we played against play weekly in an organized league and many continue throughout the season while playing club volleyball. At Whistler Secondary we do not have a league as we do not have surrounding teams to play against — the games we play we must find and organize ourselves. But mostly we attend out-of-town tournaments to get our play in over and above our twice a week practices.”

That experience aided the Storm team, which took part in a Volleyball B.C. sanctioned tournament in Burnaby on the weekend, which included more than 30 high school teams from around the province.

“It was slightly intimidating to see AAA and AAAA teams that play year round and play at least four times a week; teams that have an average height of five foot 11 inches. Our team stepped up to the plate and performed so incredibly well in our first five matches on the first day it was amazing,” said Iaconetti-Bush.

The team was strong with its serves, as well as setting up its returns. “We have become a dedicated, cohesive team with incredible team spirit,” added Iaconetti-Bush.

The Storm players finished that tournament third in their pool and 17 th out of 30 teams.

Next up for the team is the Zone Finals in Vancouver on Nov. 17. The winner of each zone, in each category, is invited to the provincials at the end of November. Whistler Secondary’s goal is to earn a spot in the provincials this year and to “play our best game possible.”