The Junior Pilots Girls 16U Navy team has won gold at the provincial championships. Now they’re headed to Nationals.
From January to April, the Junior Pilots competed in five tournaments with excellent results and placed first at Volleyball Manitoba’s Premier Tournament.
The team is coached by two Niverville couples: Kyla and Dylan Zacharias and Carl and Heather Fast.
“We love coaching these girls,” says Kyla. “We started coaching the core of the team in 2022 when they were 14U. We are looking forward to [continuing to coach] them next year at the 17U level. The girls are hungry to learn more and keep advancing their skills. They have also set goals to compete at a high level provincially and nationally that we are excited to support.”
The Junior Pilots 16U Navy entered the provincials ranked first in Manitoba. The girls swept the round robin against second-place Winman Attack and third-place Junior Bison Gold in two straight sets each, solidifying their first-place spot overall entering playoffs.
The quarterfinals pitted the Junior Pilots against the Bandits D and the girls won in two straight sets yet again, this time advancing them to the semifinals against Junior Bison Brown. And once again, the Junior Pilots won the match in two straight sets.
The Junior Pilots entered the final against their season rivals, the Winman Attack. Although the Pilots lost their first set 29–27, they took the second set 25–22.
In the deciding third set, the girls dug deep and won with a final score of 15–10 to claim the provincial title.
Next up is the national championship in Edmonton, Alberta, scheduled for May 23–26. The coaches couldn’t be more proud.
“This group of girls is amazing,” says Kyla. “We have cultivated a strong sense of community with our girls and we also have one of the best parent groups in the province! Some live in different areas or go to different schools, but these girls make their own effort to connect as a group. We have never experienced this level of cohesiveness amongst a roster of 13 girls, nor experienced a parent group so supportive.”
The coaches say their goal at Nationals is to rank among the top 16 teams in Canada.
The members of the Junior Pilots Girls 16U Navy are Tanya Gauthier of La Broquerie; Halle Smith, Bella Peters, and Sage Wiebe of Altona; Mady Friesen, Olivia Unrau, and Abby Voth of Steinbach; Jill Loeppky and Carly Friesen of Niverville; Kiersten Reimer of Mitchell; Willow Murray of Rosenort; and Danica Chateau and Abbie Parker of Île-des-Chênes.
