Dragons live up to number one ranking
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Updated: October 29, 2009 1:49 PM
The Fleetwood Park Dragons gave the Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles an important lesson in mental toughness in high school boys volleyball action on Friday night.
The Dragons registered a four-set victory in an exhibition game between top-ranked teams at MEI Middle School. Fleetwood Park is ranked No. 1 in the province in the AAA tier, while MEI is tops in the AA division.
The first three sets lived up to the hype – the Surrey-based Dragons won the first two by scores of 25-19 and 26-24, while the Eagles took the third set 25-19.
But the wheels fell off for MEI in the fourth set, as they were buried under an avalanche of highlight-reel kills and service aces as Fleetwood won 25-10.
“I don’t think if anyone on our team expected to win,” Eagles coach Jeff Gamache analyzed afterward. “Our take on it is, our guys were content not to be embarrassed. So they win the third game, and . . . that was good enough.”
The rivalry between the Eagles and Dragons dates back to 2007, when MEI’s junior squad toppled Fleetwood Park by two points in the fifth set of the provincial Grade 10 final.
Led by outside hitters Nick Del Bianco and Ben Chow, the Dragons certainly had the look of a championship team on Friday.
“If we play our aggressive power game, it’s tough to stop us,” Fleetwood coach Ken Laven noted. “But we have to bring that all the time.”
- Dan Kinvig
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