If a friendly match between a pair of cross-town rivals is any indication, this week’s Fraser Valley Boys AAA Volleyball Championships in Ladner should be a thrilling ride.
The Delta Pacers and Seaquam Seahawks squared off in one final tune-up before the Valleys in a special exhibition match that was part of the Delta Cup senior girls tournament at Delta Secondary. The host Pacers prevailed in a three-set thriller that included a wild 31-29 second game. Both teams seemed to be fuelled by a packed house in the old gym at DSS. Now both head to the 12-team tournament ranked fourth and ninth in the province respectively.
“I don’t know if we were expecting it to be that energetic,” smiled Delta head coach Carson Kauenhowen.
“It was a pretty fun environment to be playing in for an exhibition game. In the bigger games coming up there will be noise and there will be distractions when we need to be on top of our game. This should help.”
The Pacers have been playing their best volleyball of the season in the past few weeks — earning their highest ranking of the campaign and the No. 2 seed for the Valleys. They face the winner of Fraser Heights/Maple Ridge on Tuesday (8 p.m.). A victory would send them to the quarter-finals on Wednesday (8 p.m.).
Kauenhowen will only say he is cautiously optimistic — well aware of what happened a year ago when Delta was also one of the top seeds but stumbled and never recovered.
“Volleyball is a momentum game. I felt we were riding it last year then we weren’t,” he added. “We are just taking it one game at a time right now. The challenge I said to the guys is no matter who is on the side of the floor we have to take care of business.”
The championship match will take place at Earl Marriott on Thursday — home to the No. 2 ranked Mariners. Delta has played the South Surrey school very tough — dropping a pair of close matches at a tournament in Kamloops and at the league playoff seeding tournament.
At the net…
• The South Delta Sun Devils have been seeded fifth for the Fraser Valley AAAA Girls Championships which startsTuesday in Mission. The Devils will take on 12th seed Pinetree with a win sending them to Wednesday’s quarter-finals likely against the host Roadrunners.
South Delta finished second at the annual Delta Cup, losing in straight sets (25-23, 25-20) to the Seaquam Seahawks.
• The Pacers’ talent flow continues to look promising at the boys level. Delta was fourth at last week’s Fraser Valley Junior Boys Championships.
