It wasn’t the small, inconsequential fire set under an Earl Marriott Secondary portable that brought the heat to the Peace Arch News Classic volleyball tournament this past weekend (Oct. 20-21).
It was the volleyball players themselves – 20 senior girls volleyball teams from across the province (except for the EMS junior squad, who were able to compete as well as the senior Mariners) – who scorched the courts with their play, fighting hard to win each battle.
“It turned out really well. It was really good to see such a packed gym – lots of people came out to make it loud,” said EMS junior girls volleyball coach Gord Houchen, who also helps organize the annual tournament.
In a cross-town rivalry finish, the Earl Marriott senior Mariners won the tournament, defeating the the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds (also co-host of the competition) 2-0 in the gold medal match, winning each game 25-15 and 26-24.
“The Mariners dominated Game One on the strength of hard hitting by Mia Stevens and Sydney Schierbeck. However, the Thunderbirds fought back from a 15-8 deficit in game two to make things exciting!” he said.
“Rio Dirksen and Paisley Dickie led the Thunderbird rally with excellent blocking and some awesome hits, but Talia Partovi and Stevens finished the match off with two strong kills.”
In the bronze medal match, Burnaby Central – led by setter Ella Genge – defeated the McMath Wildcats two games to none in spite of strong hitting by the Wildcats’ Tania Maedal, Houchen noted.
READ ALSO: Winning weekend for South Surrey’s Earl Marriott girls volleyball teams
Abbotsford’s WJ Mouat defeated Vernon’s Kalamalka to finish fifth overall.
The Earl Marriott Grade Nine team, led by setters Adelyn Fure and Arwynn Houchen and excellent play by middle hitter Shania Beliveau, finished in 11th place overall, with wins over Sullivan Heights 2-1 and North Surrey 2-0.
Tournament all-stars were Schierbeck and Partovi from EMS, along with Semiahmoo Secondary’s Dirksen and Dickie, Genge from Burnaby Central, McMath’s Meadal, and the MVP went to Earl Marriott’s Stevens.
Dickie, now in Grade 12, has signed to play volleyball at Trinity Western University next year, while Stevens has verbally committed to play D1 beach volleyball at Texas A&M Corpus Christi in 2025.
“This weekend, we witnessed some fantastic high school volleyball thanks to the efforts of Gord Houchen and the sponsorship of the Peace Arch News,” said senior girls volleyball head coach Rob Stevens.
“Having the championship finals contended by two local schools was fun for the crowd and highlighted the exceptional athletes that we have in this area.”
On social media, there were reports of a fire at EMS on Saturday (Oct. 21) while the tournament was happening, but fortunately, it was an extremely small fire, Surrey Fire assistant fire chief Rich Bodnark said Sunday (Oct. 22).
“I can confirm that there was a very small fire outside one of the portable yesterday,” he said, explaining that the first fire crew that arrived on scene was able to extinguish the small fire quickly.
“There was no extension into the portable, there was minimal damage or property loss… this was mitigated due to the quick actions of the first arriving crew – they were able to mitigate any property loss.”