Maroons rolling in Valleys
It didn’t matter the division, boys or girls, the Fulton Maroons went undefeated in their respective round-robins Friday at the Okanagan Valley Volleyball Championships.
In senior AA boys action, hosted by the Seaton Sonics, the No. 5 ranked Maroons grounded the Okanagan Mission Huskies and Kalamalka Lakers in straight sets (25-10, 25-17 and 25-14, 25-12 respectively). Both games were at Fulton.
They then upended the No. 2 Sonics (26-24, 25-20) at Seaton to win their pool.
The Sonics placed second with straight-set wins over Kal (25-14, 25-16) and OKM (25-17, 25-18).
In B pool play, the VSS Panthers finished second behind the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops. The Cats played OKM in a Saturday morning crossover, the winner meeting Sa-Hali in the semis. Seaton faced the Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton in another crossover, the winner tangling with Fulton in the other semi.
In senior AAA girls play, the Maroons advanced to Saturday’s semifinals against host Okanagan Mission.
The Maroons downed the Pleasant Valley Sinners (25-12, 25-17) and VSS Panthers (25-13, 25-18) in pool play Friday afternoon.
Danica Rybachuk and Kelsey Thompson were lethal from the power position, scoring nine kills apiece for Fulton, who are battling for one of two berths to the B.C.s, hosted by Mark Isfeld Secondary of Courtenay, Dec. 3-5.
At the senior AA girls Valleys in Penticton, Kal went 2-0 to win their pool and advance to the semis. The Lakers outlasted Sa-Hali (25-22, 23-25, 15-12), and then pummelled the Merritt Panthers two straight (25-18, 25-8).
“We didn’t have our best match, but we did enough to win,” said Kal coach Maria Hansen. “They (Sabres) came out on fire against us and we were a little bit weaker on defence than we have been lately. But they found a way to win, which is important as far as the motivating factor goes.”
The Fulton junior girls went undefeated in Kamloops, winning their pool by brushing back Princess Margaret (25-16, 22-25, 15-4), KSS Owls (25-19, 17-25, 15-13) and Sa-Hali (25-8, 25-14).
The Maroons faced the South Kamloops Titans in a Saturday morning crossover for a chance to play in the semis. The top-four Okanagan teams advance to provincials.
Kal finished second in their pool Friday, bowing to the Pen-Hi Lakers in straight sets before icing the Kelowna Christian Knights in a three-set thriller and the Titans in straight sets (scores not available).
Kal faced Sa-Hali in the quarterfinals Saturday.
In junior boys action at George Elliot Secondary, Fulton easily handled the Rutland Voodoos (25-18, 25-19), South Okanagan Hornets (25-16, 25-17) and Sa-Hali (25-15, 25-18) to win their pool and earn a bye to Saturday’s semifinals.
“The boys play solid, they keep the ball in play and they are serving tough,” said Fulton coach Jeff Huggins.
Meanwhile, the Kal Grade 8 boys went 3-0 to claim the North Zone championships in Revelstoke.
Coached by Dan Currie, the Lakers grounded the Sonics (25-19, 25-21), Vernon Christian Royals (18-25, 25-13, 15-8) and Revelstoke Rams (25-20, 25-23).
“The boys all played well, they had a good tourney. It was nice to see all the boys’ skills improve from the beginning of the year,” said Currie.
The Kalamalka Grade 8 girls also won a North Zone title, bouncing Revelstoke (25-10, 25-17) in their final round-robin.
Said coach Sherry Lukey: “The entire team played phenomenal.”
BlockTalk is your place for your voice to contribute news, events, videos and photos about your neighbourhood and family.
View the Community Map to see what is being said in 
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
All participants will register for an account. It's simple, takes seconds and will keep the comments free of trolls, cranks, and drive-by commenters.
As a community site, we ask that the community help by using the "Report" button on each comment if they feel a comment has violated these rules. You can also use the 'Like' button on each comment to voice your opinion about that particular comment.