Senior Girls Volleyball
The SMUS Senior Girls Volleyball team finished sixth in the 16-team Spectrum Spikes and Aces tournament held this past weekend.
SMUS was 2-1 after pool play after beating Reynolds (25-15, 25-10) and Highland (25-14, 25-21) and losing to Lord Tweedsmuir (21-25, 18-25). Key serving runs from Yanyu Zhang and Nicola Bevington and a dominant attack from the left side by Charlie Anderson helped power the Blue Jags during preliminary play.
SMUS found itself up against a powerful offence from Crofton House in the crossover match on Saturday morning, losing 14-25, 14-25. The Blue Jags then defeated Belmont (25-23, 20-25,15-11). Isabelle LeRoy and Kate Fraser were a strong blocking duo for SMUS with valuable contributions also coming from Indigo Edgington in the middle.
SMUS faced a rematch against Lord Tweedsmuir in the fifth-sixth match, this time falling by 23-25, 19-25 scores.
“It was an excellent result for the team’s first weekend together,” said SMUS Head Coach Melanie Bendfeld.
The Blue Jags also opened league play last Wednesday, losing 2-0 to Oak Bay, beating Royal Bay Black 2-0 and tying Esquimalt 1-1.
SMUS will face Spectrum, Reynolds and AA rival Lambrick Park in league play this Tuesday at Spectrum.
The team’s next tournament action will be the VIU tournament October 4 and 5 in Nanaimo.
Senior Boys Volleyball
The SMUS Senior Boys finished 11th out of 20 teams in the Trinity Western Tournament this past weekend at the Langley Events Centre.
The Blue Jags beat AA city rival Vic High to take the bronze medal in the Tier 2 playoffs of the tournament, which included some of the best high school teams in the province.
SMUS faced Mennonite Educational Institute, the third-ranked team in BC, in its opening match on Friday, falling two straight to the Eagles but pushing MEI in the second set and at one point leading 17-15. The Blue Jags faced local rival Lambrick Park in their second match, losing both sets to the powerful Lions who finished fourth overall in the tournament. In its third match on Friday, SMUS split a pair of sets with Langley Fundamental.
In their crossover match on Saturday, the Blue Jags beat Unity Christian before facing the largest school in the province, RE Mountain of Langley with a student population of 2,700. The Blue Jags split the first two sets against the Langley school to force a third set, which ended in a close loss for SMUS and led to the Tier 2 bronze medal match with Vic High.
Turning in notable performances for SMUS on the weekend were setter Connor Kipling and the Blue Jags’ two big middles, Elliot Mairet and Sebastien Allard. Outside hitters Brody Harris, Tommy Hong and Eric Thompson (a Grade 10 pulled up for the tournament) also provided some big hits while liberos Ryan Liu and Martin Winnett were busy all weekend digging up hard hits and serve receives.
“All around, everyone performed well and we are getting ready for our third tournament in a row at Spectrum this coming weekend,” said Head Coach Brady Doland.
Senior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Senior Boys didn’t lose a game all weekend but had to be content with a fifth-place finish as they hosted the 10-team Independent Schools Athletic Association tournament on the weekend.
The Blue Jags finished round-robin play with three ties and a victory in four games, including a 1-0 decision over eventual tournament champion St. George’s of Vancouver. However, the three draws meant SMUS finished with six points, which left the Blue Jags behind both St. George’s (9) and West Point Grey Academy (7) in the Pool A standings.
That moved SMUS into Saturday’s fifth-sixth game, in which it beat Aberdeen Hall 2-0. St. George’s won the tournament, defeating Brentwood College 4-1 in the final. West Point Grey Academy finished third, beating Glenlyon-Norfolk School 4-3.
The host Blue Jags handed St. George’s its only loss of the tournament during pool play. In its other pool results, SMUS tied with Southpointe (1-1), West Point Grey Academy (2-2) and Shawnigan Lake (2-2).
SMUS will begin league play this Tuesday, hosting Oak Bay at 3:45 pm. The Blue Jags will travel to Lochside for another league game on Thursday against Claremont at 3:15 pm.
Junior Boys Soccer
The Junior Boys Soccer team kicked off its season with a strong team performance, beating Reynolds 3-0 last Wednesday.
The Blue Jags led 1-0 at halftime thanks to a quick break by Milann Wenham that caught the Reynolds backline off-guard. During the first half, Reynolds had several chances, including a penalty that hit the post.
About 10 minutes into the second half, Manu Achuthan converted a great sequence, scoring on a cross fired across the box, to give SMUS a two-goal lead. Achuthan followed that up with a second goal, after an excellent ball behind the backline by Hendrick Dietrich. Despite a number of further chances by Reynolds, the Roadrunners couldn't find a way past a committed SMUS team defensive effort backed by Andrei Marti in goal.
The Blue Jags will try to build on this performance this week, when they play host to Oak Bay on Wednesday at 3:45 pm and then travel to the ISAA Junior Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Brentwood College.
Field Hockey
After the excitement of the Friendship Cup the previous weekend, the SMUS field hockey girls had a quieter week. The Competitive team played its first league game against Reynolds on Wednesday, winning emphatically 6-0 with two goals from Grade 10 Lauren Dhrolia, two from Kendyll Adams, and one apiece from Caitlyn Mullen and Yuriko Ishikawa. Amelie Fleck recorded the shutout in goal. This was an impressive performance as the SMUS Grade 10s were on their out-trips.
The Development team also played two matches this last week, losing to Claremont on Monday and then tying 2-2 with Lambrick Park in an exciting game on Wednesday.
The Competitive team was scheduled to meet Glenlyon-Norfolk School on Monday beginning at 4:30 pm at UVic, followed by participation in the Ferreira Cup in Duncan on Friday and Saturday. The Development team continues with league games against GNS-2 on Monday (3:30 pm) and Oak Bay on Wednesday (4:30 pm) with both those games at UVic.
