You can’t beat back-to-back championship wins.
The Earl Marriott Secondary Mariners Grade 9 girls volleyball team won the Grade 9 championship on Saturday (Nov. 25), beating the previously undefeated KLO Cougars of Kelowna in two games (27-25, 25-21).
The team also defeated Saint Thomas More to win the Grade 8 championship last year, an EMS release noted.
“We came second in our South Fraser championship (this year), so we went into the tournament ranked fifth,” assistant coach Jo Braun said, adding it was a strong pool of opponents in the opening round-robin play.
In the first round of the playoffs Marriott got off to a bit of a nervous start before taking out Rockridge (West Vancouver) 2-0 (25-17, 25-19). In the quarter-finals, the Mariners met the No. 6-ranked MEI (Abbotsford) and a great defensive effort led Earl Marriott to a 2-0 (25-18, 25-15) victory.
In the semi-finals, the Mariners had to take on Walnut Grove (Langley), who had defeated the South Fraser champions and No. 1-ranked McMath in a 2-1 set (23-25, 25-19,15-12) and No. 2-ranked Langley Christian 2-0 (25-23,25-20).
The rival Gators started fast, taking an 8-0 lead in set one before the Mariners found their legs and fought back, but lost the first set 25-21.
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In set two, the Mariners won 25-15, forcing a third and deciding set. The Gators got out to a 5-0 lead before the Mariners took an 8-7 lead into the side switch.
Walnut Grove then surged ahead 10-8, before strong serving by Kenni Braun and Arwynn Houchen gave the Mariners a 15-12 (2-1) comeback win.
Great team defense led by libero Morgan Cavezza and defensive specialist Elsa Tsering, combined with the strong setting of Adelyn Fure and Houchen, gave the Mariners a balanced attack, the release said.
“We managed to play really well for our quarter-final and semi-final game,” Braun agreed.
The Mariners now faced KLO (the name is derived from the Kelowna Land and Orchard Company), to whom they had lost in round-robin play, in the final (KLO had defeated Burnaby Central 2-0 (27-25, 25-15) in the other semi-final).
“Losing that set to Kelowna kind of gave the girls an extra fire, I think, and made them push a little harder,” said Braun.
The No. 5-ranked Mariners went into the final as underdogs against the fourth-ranked KLO Cougars. But the Mariners were out for revenge against the Cougars and exuded a quiet confidence and support for one another, led by Reese Hamilton and Layla Walters, the EMS release said.
“Strong work at the net by Ashton Hagel, Abi Roberts, Kenni Braun and Shania Beliveau and great team defense led the Mariners to a comeback 27-25 win in set one. In set two, Earl Marriott got out to an early lead before the Cougars came roaring back and took a 13-12 lead,” it continued.
The released noted the Mariners’ consistent play allowed them to regain the momentum and pull ahead again, but the Cougars were fighting back until Beliveau made a great stuff block at the net to halt the comeback. The Mariners served the final point to take a 25-21 (2-0) victory and the 2023 Grade 9 Championship.
“The girls played awesome!” Braun said.
“We had a very tight first set… I felt like that game was a huge decider because it was such a tight battle,” she said.
“The girls really pulled together as a team and played some of their best volleyball all year in the semi-final and final. I’m proud of our whole team for stepping up and putting themselves out there and performing their best, (and) just coming together as a team at the right time.”
Abi Roberts and Ashton Hagel were named tournament All-Stars, while Arwynn Houchen was named tournament MVP.
“The girls were amazing and we played our best team volleyball of the season when it counted the most,” Houchen said.