听
Next year鈥檚 team arrived earlier than scheduled. The Belmont Bulldogs, all Grade 11 players except for three Grade 10s, won the sa国际传媒 girls Quad-A high school volleyball championship on Saturday night.
鈥淥ur mantra all year was that we didn鈥檛 want to be next year鈥檚 team,鈥� Belmont coach Mike Toakley said.
鈥淲e wanted to be this year鈥檚 team.鈥� Mission accomplished.
The Bulldogs swept the host Handsworth Royals 3-0 in sets in the final. The key victories en route were a tense, five-set quarter-final marathon against Lord Tweedsmuir and a four-set semifinal victory over top-ranked Earl Marriott.
Savannah Purdy of Belmont was named tournament MVP and her Bulldogs teammate Hannah May a first-team all-star.
鈥淲e overcame adversity the last three weeks, where we encountered injuries, and fell from No. 1 in the provincial rankings to No. 10, and then lost at the Islands to Mount Douglas, and had to come through the wild-card seeding tournament,鈥� Toakley said of the circuitous route to the top. 鈥淲e put it all behind us. When things got tough, this group got better.鈥�
It is the third sa国际传媒 high school championship won by veteran coach Toakley at Belmont, joining the boys 1997 title and girls 2001 provincial championship.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time, 15 years, and it鈥檚 an amazing feeling,鈥� said Toakley, a former star player for the University of Victoria Vikes.
