There’s the captain who has diabetes and needs a service dog on the sidelines to make sure her blood sugar levels don’t get too high or too low.
There’s the coach’s daughter who missed an entire season after blowing out her knee on the ski slopes only to come back and realize she had to fight even harder to catch up to her teammates. There’s the star setter who started out on a rival team but quickly recognized the determination on the other side of the net and decided to join them rather than oppose them.
There are interesting stories all around, and the one thing that unites these core members of the Handsworth senior girls volleyball team is that they have all been battling together since Grade 6, most of them in the same class at Cleveland elementary. This week that work, more than half a decade’s worth, will culminate at the provincial AAAA championships in Nanaimo where the Royals will walk onto the court for their first match ranked No. 1 in the tournament.
“It’s a very dedicated, strong group,” said head coach Alan Ahac. The coach, however, admitted that he didn’t see the group reaching these lofty heights when he started coaching them as Grade 6 students.
“I would not have thought that they would be ranked the No. 1 team in B.C. when they were in Grade 12 – I didn’t think they were going to be that good,” he said with a laugh. “But certainly what was clear is they were pretty dedicated and passionate about the sport and over the years have just put in a lot of time and effort and commitment into it and it’s paid off.”
Grade 12s Maya Bennett, Lorissa Corrie, Danielle Corrigan, Maggie MacDonald and Danika Ahac have all been together since Grade 6 at Cleveland elementary. Having so many players on the team that have played together for so long is a big advantage, said Ahac.
“They know how each other reacts, they know where they’re going to be,” he said. “Like in many team sports, especially volleyball, you have to depend on sort of knowing where each other are positionally, who is likely to take what, who is going to be successful in a certain situation. There’s no doubt about it – that sort of bond ends up reflecting in good team play on the floor.”
In elementary school the Cleveland crew often faced off against a Blueridge elementary team powered by Nicola Ros.
“She’s a real strong athlete, very good basketball player as well,” said Ahac, adding that when all the Cleveland girls went off to Handsworth for high school they assumed Ros, bound for Windsor secondary, would remain a rival.
“I would always tease her that she should come to Handsworth, and if she did I’d buy her an ice cream,” said Ahac. “Sure enough she showed up at Handsworth in Grade 8. Cost me an ice cream.”
Ros is now the straw that stirs the drink for the powerful Royals lineup, making big offensive contributions while also playing setter. And she has a host of powerful hitters to choose from.
Bennett, an outside hitter, is now a team captain, her high level of play defying her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. She frequently checks her blood sugar levels but even then it’s not always perfect.
“If it gets too high or too low obviously she gets dizzy, blurred vision,” said Ahac. “Even though she can monitor frequently there are times when she’ll be on the court and you can see that she’s either going high or low. … When you have a long, five-set match, it can have a dramatic effect on your play.”
Bennett has a service dog that sits with the team and will react if it senses high or low blood sugar levels.
“It’s hard enough trying to maintain the consistency in your performance when you’re normal, it’s that much harder when you’re a Type 1 diabetic, that’s for sure,” said Ahac. “It’s a real extraordinary thing. It’s a real inspiration, really, to have a kid like that on the team.”
Ahac’s daughter Danika, also an outside hitter, is another source of inspiration, having battled back from a ski accident that shredded her knee in Grade 9. Surgery followed and she missed the entire Grade 10 season. She’s back now and playing at an all-star level.
“She was very persistent in her comeback,” said Ahac. “Even after she came back it was very frustrating to realize that everyone has gotten better while she was away and she really had to work at it just to play.”
One player who has crashed the Cleveland legacy crew is right-sider Kayla Oxland who is just in Grade 10 but has earned a starting spot. That’s no surprise to anyone who knows her older sisters Emily and Rebecca, both of whom starred for Handsworth before going on to play at the CIS level.
“She’s continued on in the family tradition,” said Ahac. “She’s very determined because both Emily and Rebecca played as Grade 10s on the senior team. She was very determined she was going to try to make the senior team as a Grade 10, which she succeeded at, and she’s a starter.”
With 12 returning Grade 12s on the team this year the Royals are loaded for a run to the top after having finished fourth at provincials in each of the past two seasons. This year they’ve been racking up wins all over the place, claiming the North Shore and Lower Mainland titles while also winning the prestigious North Shore Invitational and the UBC-Okanagan tournaments and finishing second at the Red Serge tournament, the toughest competition of the year.
Handsworth will be joined by West Vancouver secondary, ranked No. 14, at the AAAA provincials running Dec. 3-5 in Nanaimo. Ahac likes his experienced team’s chances.
“If we play our best we’re going to have a really good shot at taking it,” he said. “I think we’ve beaten all the top teams this year at one time or another. But anything can happen – it’s always a different situation when you go into a provincial championship ranked No. 1. You’re wearing a big target on your back and everyone is trying to knock you off.”
One thing Ahac knows for sure is that whatever tests his team faces, they’re ready to face them together. They’ve been doing that for years.
“We have an experienced group, they’ve dealt with adversity and pressure very well so far,” he said. “We’ll see.”
