North Vancouver's Handsworth Royals held on to the No. 3 spot in the most recent B.C. senior girls AAAA volleyball rankings. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Girls Top 10 Volleyball Rankings 09.25.19: Pacific Academy’s Breakers a new No. 1 while Notre Dame Jugglers the big climbers

LANGLEY — While change was slight this week at the largest tier of B.C. girls high school volleyball, substantial jockeying took place below.A look at all four tiers:*At Quad A, the first nine spots remained unchanged with South Delta swapping spots with fellow Deltans, the Seaquam Seahawks at No. 10.*At Triple A, the Vernon Panthers […]

Vancouver's St. Patrick's Celtics, celebrating a point during last week's UBC Mizuno Invitational at War Memorial Gymnasium, open the new season at AA No. 4. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. girls high school volleyball: It’s Top 10 time again as we check with our first set of rankings at all four tiers!

Welcome to a new season of B.C. senior girls high school volleyball.Here are the first set of Top 10 rankings for all four tiers!QUAD A1 Kelowna Owls2 Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers (Surrey)3 Handsworth Royals (North Vancouver)4 Semiahmoo Totems (Surrey)5 Lord Byng Grey Ghosts (Vancouver)6 Claremont Spartans (Victoria)7 Earl Marriott Mariners (Surrey)8 Oak Bay Breakers (Victoria)9 Elgin […]

The late West Vancouver Highlanders' senior girls volleyball head coach Mike MacNeil was an inspiration to so many, including current Simon Fraser Clan volleyball star Betsie de Beer (second from right). (Photo by Jo-Anne McKee property of West Vancouver Secondary athletics 2019. All rights reserved)
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SFU’s Betsie de Beer: Clan volleyball star’s homage to her late high school coach Mike MacNeil reminds us all of the power of mentorship

BURNABY — Betsie de Beer doesn’t try to hide the fact that she is playing her final season of collegiate volleyball with a heavy heart.At the same time, however, Simon Fraser’s talented 6-foot-1 outside hitter and health sciences major can’t exactly offer a scientific explanation as to why of late, that heart of hers has […]

The Kelowna Owls, including Anya Pemberton (16) and Sophie LaChapelle (7) defeated North Vancouver's Handsworth Royals in the championship final of the UBC Mizuno invitational held last week on the Point Grey campus in Vancouver. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Girls High School Volleyball: Quad-A champion Kelowna Owls pick up where they left off, capturing UBC Mizuno Invitational title

VANCOUVER — Even though they are the defending B.C. champions at the province’s highest tier and expected to open at No. 1 atop the first Quad-A Top 10 poll of the season, the Kelowna Owls senior girls volleyball team has still got its own script to write this season.“Our prime objective last weekend was to […]

Earl Marriott's Arden Copping is part of Varsity Letters' Super 15 B.C. girls senior high school volleyball players of year. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Volleyball University Women's Volleyball

10th Anniversary Edition: Varsity Letter’s celebrates a decade of Super 15 excellence with our list B.C.’s top girls volleyball talent for 2018

LANGLEY — Welcome to our 10th birthday party!Yes, this idea hatched back in 2009 by B.C.’s community of post-secondary volleyball coaches while I was still on staff at  The Province newspaper, has now endured a full decade.Of course, we’re talking about the Varsity Letters’ Super 15, our annual list celebrating the best Grade 12 talent […]

Earl Marriott senior Cecilee Max-Brown was voted Varsity Letters' B.C. senior varsity girls 2018-19 Player of the Year by our panel of B.C.'s U Sports and NCAA coaches. (Photo by Justin Quinn provided by Academy Volleyball)
Feature High School Girls Volleyball University Women's Volleyball

Cecilee Max-Brown: Despite abbreviated high school career, Oregon State-bound hitter is Varsity Letters’ B.C. Girls Player Of The Year

SURREY — Her path to top in the world of B.C. girls high school volleyball was more than a tad bit unconventional.In fact, circumstances were such that Cecilee Max-Brown basically didn’t even suit up over her last two high school seasons.Yet the 6-foot-1 outside hitter who will graduate this spring from Surrey’s Earl Marriott Secondary […]

After leading Victoria's Belmont Bulldogs to back-to-back B.C. AAAA senior girls volleyball titles, Savannah Purdy has played a big role as a freshman in helping Trinity Western to the No. 1 spot in the latest U Sports women's volleyball national rankings. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of Trinity Western athletics 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Volleyball

Savannah Purdy: Trinity Western’s fantastic volleyball freshman already embodies the ethos of U Sports’ No. 1-ranked Spartans

LANGLEY — Ask Trinity Western women’s volleyball coach Ryan Hofer what the most challenging aspects have been for his star rookie hitter Savannah Purdy to adjust to in joining a line-up that has gone into the Canada West winter break as the No. 1 team in the nation, and he correctly amends the question.

After a 25-23 win in the deciding third set of the 2018 B.C. senior girls Quad A volleyball championships gave Kelowna an upset win over Belmont at Penticton Secondary, Owls' player let the post-game celebration begin. (Photo by Mary Kessenich property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2018. All Rights Reserved)
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B.C. Girls Quad-A Volleyball: Owls fly outside the box, Kelowna’s quirky prep leads to upset of three peat-minded Belmont Bulldogs

When you get right down to it, there could be no greater sign of respect for the accomplishments of the volleyball dynasty which had come to reside in our provincial capital the past two seasons-plus than the efforts of a determined opposition head coach.

Victoria's Belmont Bulldogs swept to first place at last weekend's Red Serge Invitational in PoCo. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures)
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B.C. girls Top 10 volleyball rankings: Tweedy, PA Breakers, host Riverside make late-season charge at Red Serge invitational

PORT COQUITLAM — B.C.’s two-time defending AAAA champion Belmont Bulldogs pushed their record to 46-3 Saturday with win over Surrey’s Pacific Academy Breakers in the final of the Red Serge Invitational. As part of a 7-0 weekend in PoCo, it kept the ‘Dawgs firmly rooted at the top of its tier’s Top 10 rankings.

Belmont Bulldogs' Jocelyn Sherman (7) and Taylee Pomponio (14) celebrate a point during last season's B.C. AAA championship run at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures)
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Belmont girls volleyball: No. 1 Bulldogs’ quest for B.C. title three-peat rides on its three degrees of dedication

VICTORIA — You’ve heard of the six degrees of separation, but when it comes time to calculating the steps of togetherness for the Belmont Bulldogs senior girls volleyball team, it’s more about the three degrees of dedication.