The Quesnel Cobras stunned the competition, their parents and their coaches by taking their play to the next level and winning the Volleyball provincials in Abbortsford last weekend.
“The girls played unbelievably, better than coach Trevor Briggs or I expected,” assistant coach Derrick Steinbach said.
The team, with a single tournament under their belt for the season had the added difficulty of losing their setter. The alternate stepped in and played well according to Steinbach.
“All the girls stepped up to overcome some major adversity this past weekend in Abbotsford,” coach Trevor Briggs said.
The girls played seven games, only losing one in the tournament.
During round robin play the Cobras beat Altruista from Abbotsford two sets to one, 15-25, 25-19, 16-14.
In their second game, they posted their only loss, losing a heartbreaker to Phoenix Volleyball from Port Coquitlam, 23-25, 27-29.
They regrouped in the final game of the round robin to defeat Air Attack Black from Richmond, 25-11, 26-24.
Based on their second place finish in their pool, the Cobras advanced to the Championship side and were forced to play four matches on Sunday.
They defeated Synergy from Surrey, two sets to one, 21-25, 26-24, 15-5.
Next up, the Cobras faced the undefeated Altruista Silver, from Abbotsford. Altruista didn’t stay undefeated, as the Cobras won two sets to one, 25-21, 22-25, 15-11.
The win put them into the semis against their arch–rival, the Prince George Kodiaks, who they defeated in exciting fashion, 21-25, 25-19, 15-13, to advance to the Gold Medal game.
In the finals they faced off against Burnaby, winning the first set 25-17. They stumbled going into the second set but came from behind after several sensational rallies to win 25-21.
To add to the excitement, the gold medals were awarded to the Cobras by the current Canadian National Team Captain Fred Winters who is from Victoria.
The Quesnel Cobras are a club team made of girls born in 1997.
“Derrick and I really enjoyed the past few months coaching the girls and we’re looking forward to next school season as well as continuing to run Cobras Club,” Briggs said.