LANGLEY — Way back in December of 2009, when UBC Thunderbirds’ head coach Doug Reimer floated an idea past me to honour the best girls and boys high school volleyball players in B.C. on an annual basis, little did either of us know that a dozen years later, the concept would be as fresh today as was the day we started.
In fact so determined was the panel of B.C.-based women’s university volleyball coaches when contacted about the 2020 edition earlier this fall, that despite the fact that the pandemic had wiped out both the Grade 11 club and Grade 12 high school seasons of the student-athletes in question, they still insisted on casting their votes.
So thank you to Reimer, UBC OKanagan’s Steve Manuel, Simon Fraser’s Gina Schmidt, Trinity Western’s Ryan Hofer, Thompson Rivers’ Chadd Grimm, and the latest addition: Fraser Valley’s Janelle Rozema.
The votes are in (readers may note that the women’s coaches tally based on one point for first, two for second, etc, while the men tally in reverse order with 15 points for first place, etc.) and once again, a stellar class is ready to move forward into the post-secondary chapter of their playing careers.
To read all about the 2020 winner, click here.
And our thanks to Vancouver Sports Pictures’ Paul Yates for providing all of the photographs you see here today. Paul, your loyalty to Varsity Letters and your belief in the importance of high school sport in this province are so very much appreciated.
Happy holidays! — Howard Tsumura
1 Emoni Bush
School — Carihi (Campbell River)
Height — 6-foot-3
Position — Outside hitter
Poll points — 6
Freshman’s Future — Washington (NCAA)
2 Lucy Borowski
School — Little Flower Academy (Vancouver)
Height — 6-foot-1
Position — Setter/outside hitter
Poll points — 13
Freshman’s Future — UBC (U SPORTS)
3 Anya Pemberton
School — Kelowna
Height — 6-foot
Position — Middle blocker
Poll points — 17
Freshman’s Future — Arizona State (beach) (NCAA)
4 Jaeya Brach
School — Eric Hamber (Vancouver)
Height — 6-foot-1
Position — Outside Hitter
Poll points — 24
Freshman’s Future — Western (U SPORTS)
5 Talia Attieh
School — Pacific Academy (Surrey)
Height — 5-foot-11
Position — Middle blocker/outside hitter
Poll points — 30
Freshman’s Future — Douglas College (CCAA)
6 Chloe Ladd
School — George Elliot (Lake Country)
Height — 5-foot-10
Position — Libero/outside hitter
Poll points — 41
Freshman’s Future — York (U SPORTS)
7 Olivia Tymkiw
School — Kalamalka (Coldstream)
Height — 6-foot
Position — Outside hitter
Poll points — 44
Freshman’s Future — UBC Okanagan (U SPORTS)
8 Ezawa Malish
School — St. Thomas More (Burnaby)
Height — 6-foot
Position — Middle blocker
Poll points — 56
Freshman’s Future — Simon Fraser (NCAA)
9 Madison Gardner
School — W.L. Seaton (Vernon)
Height — 6-foot-2
Position — Middle blocker
Poll points — 62
Freshman’s Future — N/A
10 Eva Person
School — Stelly’s (Victoria)
Height — 5-foot-10
Position — Setter
Poll points — 65
Freshman’s Future — Simon Fraser (NCAA)
11 Taryn Grandia
School — St. John Brebeuf (Abbotsford)
Height — 5-foot-11
Position — Outside Hitter
Poll points — 69
Freshman’s Future — Trinity Western
12 Kylie Kampman
School — Unity Christian (Chilliwack)
Height — 5-foot-8
Position — Outside hitter/libero
Poll points — 76
Freshman’s Future — N/A
13 Lexi Prefontaine
School — Kelowna
Height — 5-foot-10
Position — Setter
Poll points — 78
Freshman’s Future — UBC Okanagan (U SPORTS)
14-tie Claire Stewart
School — York House (Vancouver)
Height — 6-foot
Position — Middle
Poll points — 87
Freshman’s Future — N/A
14-tie Megan Haynes
School — Fleetwood Park (Surrey)
Height — 6-foot
Position — Outside Hitter
Poll points — 87
Freshman’s Future — N/A
Others receiving votes
Madison Shanks
School — Kelowna
Height — 6-foot
Position — Outside hitter
Poll points — 88
Freshman’s Future — N/A
Tamara Jurosevic
School — Magee (Vancouver)
Height — 6-foot-1
Position — Outside hitter
Poll points — 94
Freshman’s Future — N/A
Sydney Wright
School — Lord Tweedsmuir (Surrey)
Height — 6-foot
Position — Middle blocker/outside hitter
Poll points — 97
Freshman’s Future — Fraser Valley (U SPORTS)
Sasha Haldane
School — Caledonia (Terrace)
Height — 5-foot-11
Position — Outside hitter
Poll points — 109
Freshman’s Future — Thompson Rivers (U SPORTS)
Madison Maichin
School — Seaquam (North Delta)
Height — 5-foot-8
Position — Libero
Poll points — 119
Freshman’s Future — N/A
If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com.
Amazing players!
Congratulations to all of the Grad 2021 volleyball players who showed tenacity and resilience to keep up their high performance training despite the 2020 club and the high school seasons being cancelled.
FYI: to find out who is going where in U Sports, you can see this constantly updating LOI (Letter of Intent) link and sort for the sport you want to see https://usports.ca/hq/eligibility/letter-of-intent