Volleyball teams one-two in playoffs

City volleyball teams are one-two in playoffs
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby NOW assistant editor
Published Nov. 17, 2002

Two Burnaby teams cleaned up at the Lower Mainland high school volleyball championships in Richmond this week.
The Burnaby North Vikings continued their season-long undefeated streak and will take the Lower Mainland No. 1 seed position to the B.C. championships. The No. 2 seed position was won by the Burnaby South Rebels.
The Vikings won their ranking by defeating Gladstone secondary by a 5-3 margin Thursday night, and then downing the Rebels by a 3-0 margin.
"We have an excellent team, and our strength is in our returning seniors," Viking teacher sponsor Paul Stanley said. "We haven't lost a game all year, but we also haven't played any powerhouse teams."
Stanley said his club will be hard-pressed to defeat some of the traditionally stronger teams from the Okanagan and Vancouver Island.
To win, the Vikings will need strong play from setter Howie Pai, power Byron Wong and middle Mike Sakuraba, plus guidance from young coach Neal Quan, a 1995 Burnaby South graduate.
"Neal is a great coach because he works so well with the kids," Stanley said. "He has total court awareness and knows exactly what the other teams' weak points are. He also has the team playing a sophisticated defence with limited weak spots. He really knows how to get the best out of his players."
Across town, Burnaby South coach Peggy Chow said her team has already learned to overcome adversity simply by qualifying for the B.C.s.
"Last week was pretty rough," Chow said. "We lost our first two playoff games and had to qualify as a wild card. We played three games last week, and the game of our lives on Wednesday."
The gruelling schedule forced the Rebels to win consecutive matches against Britannia, Gladstone, Burnaby Mountain and Eric Hamber before earning the right to play at the B.C.s.
"Every game has been a stepping stone to the provincials," Chow said. "In the past two weeks we counted off the games we had to win. We did a lot of sports psychology stuff and visualization.
"Our strength is definitely the work ethic and our team bond."
The B.C. high school championships are set for Nov. 27 to 30 in Kelowna.