15U Air Attack Gold certainly saved its best for last to produce a historic and stunning victory at last weekend’s Volleyball B.C. Club Provincial Championships in Abbotsford.
The 11th seeded Richmond-based squad came out of nowhere to capture gold among the 19 entries — becoming the first-ever Air Attack boys team to win a B.C. title at the top Division One level.
The thrilling run concluded Saturday night with a three-set win over Vancouver's Apex Ignite. Air Attack dropped the first game 25-21, rallied for a 25-21 game two win then took the decisive set 15-13.
It was a similar script they had been following all weekend that saw them thrive under adversity.
The semi-final triumph over Okanagan’s Sky Black was capped by an 18-16 third set win after been romped 25-11 in the opener.
Air Attack had shown flashes of their potential throughout the season but had never cracked the top six of any Volleyball B.C.-sanctioned tournament until its magical run in Abbotsford.
Besides rallying from early deficit, the team dealt with other road bumps including injuries to a couple of players who returned to make an impact in the championship match, while another nearly missed the tournament due to his grades. The non-profit club insists on a high academic standard in order to play.
The roster featured talent from McRoberts, Burnett, McMath, Richmond Christian, McNair, Steveston-London and Vancouver College. With a number of first-year players, the coaching staff emphasized teamwork and confidence right through to the conclusion of the gold medal match.
“Between games and even during timeouts that’s what we talked about more than anything else. It was the boys believing in themselves and each other. There was actually very little about Xs and Os or strategy,” said co-coach Matt Ng, who launched Air Attack’s boys program back in 2008. “They played with so much composure and never got rattled even when they lost the first set. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Marcus Lam was named the tournament’s MVP while teammates Mackenzie Hui and Amos Cheng earned all-star honours.
The team also includes: Willy Billedo, Russell Chan, Aiden Chin, Micah Funk, Aidan Huynh, Austin Kofler, Jordan Lee and Owen Liu.
Ng had high praise for Cheng who had his best weekend of the season at setter, while Huynh stepped in to do a terrific job when he needed a breather.
He also noted how the roster features multi-sport athletes including Kofler who helped Seafair Minor Hockey’s top Bantam team win the Western Canadian Championship back in early April.
The victory was certainly one to cherish for Wong, who has spent a tremendous amount of time coaching at the local senior boys high school level, even guiding two teams a couple of years ago to ensure they would have a season.
As much as he appreciates the championship trophy, it’s watching his players come together that he will cherish the most.
“We have been emphasizing teamwork, next point mentality, being willing to make mistakes, being aggressive in tough times and being willing to do the little things for the team since the start of the season,” said Wong, who also is the Air Attack boys program director. “It literally wasn’t until the very last day that they all put their egos aside and truly played as a team.”
Credit can also be given to the club’s second team at the U15 Division One level — Air Attack Black — which regularly scrimmaged against the Gold team. They advanced to the round of 16 before losing a hard-fought three-set battle to Prince George.
For more coverage on the big win here is a link to Volleyball B.C.'s site http://www.volleyballbc.org/air-attack-15u-boys-save-the-best-for-last/
