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Stingers volley their way to provincials

THE TERRACE Stingers might be a new team in town, but the girls recently volleyed their way to play long-time big city teams
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THE TERRACE Stingers are on the court here in Abbotsford where they placed fourth in a round-robin provincial tournament.

THE TERRACE Stingers might be a new team in town, but the girls recently volleyed their way to the Lower Mainland to play some long-time big city teams in a provincial tournament.

The Stingers, a rep team made up of girls in Grades 9 and

10, began practising in January of this year before a team was picked in February.

Looking back over the season, the team played several tournaments before it came to an end in April. But according to coach Carmen Didier, the girls weren’t ready to stop.

The team travelled to several tournaments throughout the year, placing second in Prince George for one, coming first in Chetwynd during

another, and third at another

tournament held in Prince George.

The Terrace Stingers is made up of nine players, a coach and an assistant coach, Steve Kitchen.

“The girls’ season was to wrap up at the end of April after the Prince George tournament but the girls really wanted to continue to play and take their game to the next level,” said Didier, adding that the next level was the 15U provincials in Abbotsford at the beginning of May.

“In Abbotsford, we had a very exciting and awesome weekend,” she said about the tournament, which was held at the Trade and Exhibition centre in Abbotsford.

Unfortunately, not all team members could play as the team had to be made of up girls 15 and under to qualify for the 15U category, said Didier, explaining how the tournament went for the team.

“Terrace Stingers in round robin play defeated Alberni Airborne 25-19 and 25-16, Power West 25-14 and 25-19 and lost to the Coquitlam Ducks 11-25, 25-17, 10-15. This placed them second in their round robin where they moved on to defeat Phoenix Volleyball 25-21 and 25-21.

This win put them into the championship round where they further defeated Delta Kahunas 22-25, 25-23 and 15-11.

Moving into the top four, the Stingers had to play the Coquitlam Ducks once again where they lost 25-18 and 27-25.

This placed them into the bronze medal match where they were defeated in an exciting and close match 22-25, 25-15 and 16-14.

The girls experienced a much higher level of volleyball at the provincials and really rose to the occasion by competing toe to toe with the big city clubs.

“We are very proud of our team,” said Didier. “They have worked very hard to get where they are today.

“If you can consider that the teams we played at the provincials were mainly big city teams who are used to high pressure

play and competition and our team being a new club team and not getting the same opportunities to play at the higher level, we did incredibly well.”