Fraser Valley freshman guard Jessica Parker, the former PoCo-Riverside standout, announced herself on the U Sports circuit Saturday in the Cascades win over visiting UBC at Envision Athletic Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved) (Photo by Vancouver Sports Pictures property of VSP 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

UFV Women’s Basketball: Forget the Fab Five! Cascades’ freshman-filled Fab Four combine for 50 points in win over UBC

ABBOTSFORD — Don’t hold it against Jessica Parker just because she doesn’t know the history of the Fab Five.After all, the Fraser Valley Cascades’ high-scoring pure freshman guard wasn’t even born when Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King arrived on the scene, baggy shorts and all, way back in 1991, […]

The two sides of Jackson Corneil are (left) as an outside hitter for Fraser Valley Volleyball Club, and as a basketball forward with Surrey's Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers. (Photos by Dale Toews (left) and Howard Tsumura (right). All rights reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball University Men's Volleyball

A Sunday Read: As Tweedy hoops star Jackson Corneil chooses volleyball career with TWU Spartans, we get a fresh take on the power of multi-sport athleticism

LANGLEY — You don’t build a university sports dynasty by diligently following the same footsteps as the rest of the pack.Instead, if you’re the men’s volleyball program at Langley’s Trinity Western University, you cultivate your own belief system of what matters most and you act accordingly, bringing student-athletes into your program whom others may not […]

Despite her lofty array of talents, Lord Byng's Katarina Pantovic (centre) put being a great teammate at the very top of her list. The Grey Ghost senior is headed for the Pac 12 next season and she is Varsity Letters' 2019-20 B.C. Girls Player of the Year. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved) (Photo by Vancouver Sports Pictures property of VSP 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Volleyball University Women's Volleyball

Katarina Pantovic: Lord Byng’s volleyball superstar our unanimous choice as B.C.’s best high school volleyball player in the Class of 2019-20

VANCOUVER — Speak to Katarina Pantovic for any amount of time, and you very suddenly realize that the senior volleyball whiz from Vancouver’s Lord Byng Secondary School has taken not a single moment along the journey of her athletic career for granted.“I have the perfect example where I can say that mental toughness really came […]

Kelowna's Madelyn Hettinga capped her senior season with another B.C. title, as well as No. 2 on our list of B.C.'s Top 15 girls Grade 12 volleyball talents. (Photo by Vancouver Sports Pictures property of VSP 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Volleyball University Women's Volleyball

Our 11th annual edition: Who are B.C.’s Top 15 senior girls Grade 12 volleyball players? Check out our 2019-20 Dream Team!

LANGLEY — B.C.’s best senior girls Grade 12 volleyball players from the Class of 2019-20 were determined by a vote involving the head coaches of B.C.’s four U Sports programs — UBC, UBC Okanagan, Thompson Rivers and Trinity Western — as well as NCAA Simon Fraser.

The face of B.C. boys high school volleyball in 2019-20 is Roan McCarthy of Lake Country's George Elliot Coyotes, University coaches voted him Varsity Letters' boys Player of the Year. (Photo by Vancouver Sports Pictures property of VSP 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball University Men's Volleyball

Lake Country’s shining star! Roan McCarthy of the George Elliot Coyotes is the pick of the B.C.’s boys volleyball Class of 2019-20

LANGLEY — As he watched the captain of the Team B.C. Selects lead his province to a gold medal-finish at this past summer’s Canada Cup tournament, UBC Thunderbirds head coach Michael Hawkins saw more than just an enormous package of technical skill in Roan McCarthy, the student-athlete that Varsity Letters’ is proud to announce as […]

Langley Christian's Jonas Van Huizen placed a close second to overall winner Roan McCarthy. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved) (Photo by Vancouver Sports Pictures property of VSP 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Volleyball University Men's Volleyball

Our 11th annual edition: Who are B.C. Top 15 senior boys Grade 12 volleyball players? Check out our 2019-20 Dream Team!

LANGLEY — Our second decade has begun.It was back in 2009 when we started compiling our annual lists of B.C.’s Super 15 Grade 12 girls and boys volleyball teams.Year 11 has arrived and the phenoms just continue to announce themselves as B.C. continues to remain a prime producer of both collegiate and national-team level talent.Today […]

After meeting in the TBI title game finale two weekends ago, Kelowna's Ajay Gill (right) and Leif Skelding of Centennial saw their respective teams hold court at the top of Quad-A rankings through the end of 2019. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

B.C. senior boys basketball 12.18.19 rankings: Centaurs hold at Quad-A No. 1, Grizz new Triple-A No. 1, plus JV Top 10!

LANGLEY — Some weeks, ranking numbers struggle to hold their weight against determined, un-ranked foes. Over the past seven days, however, the Quad-A tier’s strengths, albeit only paper, were almost universally as strong as oak.Remember that our next provincial rankings won’t appear again until Jan. 8.Here’s a look at this week’s rankings:BOYSQUAD A (records, ranking reflect […]

Terry Fox point guard Cerys Merton and the rest of the Ravens maintained their position at No. 2 in the final B.C. Girls Quad-A poll of 2019. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

B.C. senior girls basketball rankings 12.18.19: We ring out the year with the BCSSGBA’s final Tops 10’s of 2019!

Here are the final B.C. Secondary Schools Girls Basketball Association Top 10 rankings of 2019. Triple-A is not issuing a poll this week.Rankings will return on Jan. 8.BASKETBALLSENIOR GIRLSTOP 10QUAD A1 Semiahmoo Totems (White Rock) (66 points) (LW-1)2 Terry Fox Ravens (Port Coquitlam) (41) (2) 3 Walnut Grove Gators (Langley) (40) (3)4 Kelowna Owls (Kelowna) (38) […]

Britannia's Tiana Sacco battles a pair of Yale Lions in Friday semifinal play from the 2019 TBI. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

B.C. Girls All-Tier Top 20 Power Rankings! So, who are B.C.’s best hoops squads regardless of tier? Here is it, unofficially and in the name of fun!

LANGLEY — It was the perfect weekend from which to form the perfect conversation about the state B.C. senior girls high school basketball.The precise topic?If you combined all four of the province’s tiers into one stew, what would your overall Top 20 look like?A couple of insiders gave me what they thought the bones of […]

TBI MVP Lily Pink (rear, left) and late-game heroine Makenna Jacklin (rear, right) celebrate along with the rest of their Okanagan Mission teammates following championship win over Britannia at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball

A SUNDAY READ: Okanagan Mission tops Britannia as a most illuminating TBI 2019 sheds new light on the state of B.C. girls high school hoops

LANGLEY — For the first few days of the 2019 Tsumura Basketball Invitational, Makenna Jacklin did a really good job of convincing herself that she’d lost her jump shooting mojo.