Two North Okanagan players came home with hardware from the Canada Cup volleyball tournament in Calgary.
And it came at the expense of a friend and teammate.
James Helfrick and Rory O鈥橞rien, best friends, were playing for Team B.C. Red in the Div. 1 Men鈥檚 event. They defeated Coldstream鈥檚 Devin Sales Parno and Team B.C. Blue 3-1 in the bronze-medal match.
Helfrick attends and plays volleyball at Vernon Secondary School. O鈥橞rien and Sales Parno attend and play for the Kalamalka Secondary School Lakers in Coldstream. All three are members of the Vernon Sky Volleyball Club.
The eventual gold-medal winning Alberta 17 squad eliminated B.C. Blue 3-1 in one semifinal while Manitoba Gold swept B.C. Red in the other semi. Alberta defeated Manitoba 3-0 to win the championship.
BC Red went 2-0 in preliminary round play Thursday, sweeping New Brunswick Maroons 3-0 and defeated Alberta South 3-1. B.C. Blue was 1-1, defeating Saskatchewan Green 3-0 but falling 3-0 to Alberta 17.
Day 2 Friday saw the start of power pool play. B.C. Red and B.C. Blue both went 1-1. Red beat Saskatchewan Green 3-2 but lost 3-0 to Manitoba Gold. Blue got by Alberta South 3-1 before falling 3-1 to Alberta North.
In power pool play Saturday, B.C. Red defeated B.C. Blue 3-1 and edged New Brunswick Maroons 3-2. B.C. Blue defeated the New Brunswick squad 3-1.
In the Canada Games Men鈥檚 Division, Vernon鈥檚 Liam Remple and Team B.C. finished fifth with a 3-0 win over Nova Scotia. Remple will play for B.C. in August at the Canada Summer Games in Niagara, Ont.
B.C. went 1-1 in the preliminary round, sweeping Yukon 3-0 but falling 3-0 to Manitoba. In the power pool, B.C.鈥檚 2-2 record wasn鈥檛 enough to reach the semifinal. Remple and company defeated Nova Scotia and Alberta 3-1, but lost 3-1 to Ontario and 3-2 to Manitoba.
Saskatchewan defeated Alberta 3-0 for gold while Manitoba edged Ontario 3-2 for bronze.
Four North Okanagan players were involved in the women鈥檚 division, playing for three B.C. squads, all of whom ended up in consolation round play.
Madison Gardner of Vernon and Olivia Tymkiw of Coldstream were playing for Team B.C., looking to solidify spots on the province鈥檚 Canada Summer Games team. B.C. went 1-1 in the round-robin, beating Nova Scotia 3-0 but losing 3-0 to Quebec.
In the power pool Friday, B.C. defeated Alberta 17 by a 3-0 margin, then lost 3-0 to Alberta. B.C. was sent to the consolation round with a 3-0 Tier 1 quarterfinal loss to Manitoba. Gardner, Tymkiw and company went 2-0 in the consolation round, defeating Canada White 3-0 and Saskatchewan 3-1.
Vernon鈥檚 Lauren Hoard and Makenna Doyle played for Team B.C. Red and Team B.C. Blue respectively. Hoard and Team Red started with 3-0 wins over Alberta North and Prince Edward Island while Doyle and Team Blue beat the Alberta 15 squad 3-0 but lost 3-2 to Manitoba Gold.
In Friday鈥檚 power pool play, B.C. lost 3-1 to Ontario and 3-0 to Saskatchewan, while Blue was 1-1, edging New Brunswick 3-2 but dropping a 3-0 decision to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Both B.C. sides fell in the Tier 2 quarterfinals, B.C. Red losing 3-0 to Nova Scotia while PEI knocked off B.C. Blue 3-1.
The two B.C. teams met in the consolation round with Doyle and Team Blue downing Hoard and Team Red 3-1. Red finished the event with a 3-0 victory over the Northwest Territories, while Blue dropped its final match, 3-0 to New Brunswick.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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