Courting Provincial Silver

8 June 2011Indre S

Last weekend, the Brentwood Senior Tennis team traveled to Vancouver for the BC AA Provincial Championships. Winners of the Vancouver Island Championships for the second consecutive year, the team was looking to build on those results at the provincial level. Having earned second place last year, hopes were high to come home with a first place banner.

Spirits were not dampened even though the rain forced the tournament to be played indoors. In our first round match against Valleyview, Brentwood came out ahead, winning 6-1. To finish up the pool play, we defeated McRoberts 5-2. We had secured our place in the quarterfinals against our Island rival, Saint Michaels University School.

Still forced to play indoors, the quarterfinal round consisted of seven matches, with Brentwood securing its berth in the semis by winning six. In a repeat of last year’s provincial semi-final match-up, we faced Sa Hali Secondary from Kamloops. Nerves were no match for persistence, and in the end Brentwood dominated the 11 match set by relinquishing only one to the opposition. The finals, just like the semis, would be a repeat of last year’s matchup.

But before the final match-up on Saturday, a celebration of what had been achieved so far was in order. As it is an accomplishment to qualify for the provincials and on Friday night a banquet was held for all participating teams to celebrate their success: a gourmet buffet dinner followed by a dance was the perfect reward. The theme this year was “Celebrate the Canucks”, and the presence of the Brentwood team was especially prevalent with Canucks face tattoos, full green and blue face-paint, and jerseys galore. But once the night was over, it was time to refocus on the upcoming match against Collingwood, the top-ranked team from Vancouver.

Our knowledge of the opposition was scant: as the previous matches had been indoors, there had been little opportunity to scout other teams. The little we did know about Collingwood was recollected from the same final match-up last year. The mindset, however, was positive, and the desire to upset the top-seeded team was clearly present.

Though we did not prevail, winning four matches and losing seven, it was not a defeat. With one match going all the way to a seven-point tie-breaker, and another being by only three games, the teams were very evenly matched. Placing second in the province is a victory. With a season of training six days a week and overcoming various injuries and illnesses, the amount of effort put in by the team was truly reflected with the second place finish. Congratulations to Andrew L, Mariana P, Kirsty M, Connor S, Benson C, Nat T, Kelly R, Tara V, Raffy G, Henryk S, Amanda M, Frankie P, Nicole P, Andjela S, Conrad A, Indre S, and to Coaches Mrs. Marci Mclean and Mr. Bishop who not only pushed the team to reach its full potential, but also created a support system through each step of the season.

Where Students Choose To Be