At this rate, Belmont Secondary might have to invest in a bigger trophy case 鈥� specifically in the senior girls鈥� volleyball portion of the display case.
Having already won all five tournaments they鈥檝e appeared in this season, without losing a match, the No. 1-ranked quadruple-A team in the province added a city Vic Lindal Cup crown on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs defeated the host Oak Bay Breakers 3-0 (25-16, 25-21 and 25-18) in their own gym on a wet Tuesday night.
Focus now turns to the Lower Islands at Belmont next Tuesday, which will be used for seeding purposes for the Islands, which follow Nov. 18-19 at Mount Douglas.
鈥淚鈥檒l let our athletic director worry about that, but it would be a nice problem to have,鈥� Bulldogs coach Mike Toakley said jokingly when teased about the additional trophy space.
He and his team have full respect for all Belmont鈥檚 opponents.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to do that,鈥� he said of looking ahead. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a jinx thing, and Oak Bay played very well and they鈥檙e getting better all the time. Each time we play them, it鈥檚 a tougher battle and they still have a few weeks to get stronger, so we take nothing for granted.鈥�
The Bulldogs will now prepare for their own tournament this weekend.
鈥淚t will be difficult to win that one with three girls away this weekend 鈥� and they鈥檙e all starters,鈥� said Toakley, stressing that the road ahead is still long.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be easy and Oak Bay showed that tonight. Several times they were out front and made these girls work hard.鈥�
The Bulldogs battled to take the first two sets, particularly in the second. Olivia Godek finished it off immediately after she was stuffed on an Oak Bay block the point before. Belmont found itself up 9-6 before the Breakers rallied in the third.
Oak Bay took a 12-9 advantage right after a Belmont timeout and led 14-11 before the Bulldogs assumed a 17-14 lead. It got as close as 17-15 before the Bulldogs pulled away. Taylee Pomponio capped the win with a stuff at the net.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a pretty veteran squad, even though they鈥檙e all Grade 11s. They鈥檝e played together a really long time,鈥� said Breakers coach Jeremy Schmidt. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a lot more polished than us, I think, but as the season has gone on we鈥檝e shown growth against them.
鈥淓ven tonight, the first 50 per cent of every set was side-out volleyball for the most part. Unfortunately, they persevered and that鈥檚 where their experience really shows.鈥�
Meanwhile, the senior boys鈥� volleyball regular-season ends today with action at St. Michaels University School, Claremont and Pacific Christian. The playoffs commence Monday and Wednesday of next week with the Judy Bourne Cup set for Thursday, Nov. 10.
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