SVBC U16 team wins gold

SPOKANE — If the seeding committee for the Evergreen Region Volleyball Association Championships needed a reminder of the quality of play in Sandpoint the SVBC U16 team was more than happy to refresh their memory, winning the Gold Bracket last weekend in Spokane.

Sandpoint was seeded No. 19 among the more than 40 teams in their bracket, then proceeded to take down No. 1 seed North Idaho Thunder from Coeur d’Alene, No. 2 seed Side Out from Spokane, and No. 3 seed Montana Volleyball Academy out of Missoula en route to the championship.

The win earned SVBC the lone regional berth to the Junior Olympics, held on July 4-7 in Columbus, Ohio. There they’ll compete against the top youth club teams from around the U.S.

Head coach Jack Dyck said the No. 19 seed for the Evergreen tourney was probably accurate based on the team’s past results, but Dyck said he’s never seen a group of girls improve so fast recently.

“We’re peaking at the right time,” said Dyck, who will coach the team at the Reno Tournament this weekend. “It’s a cool group of kids with a willingness to learn. They’re very athletic, and it’s been really rewarding to see them grow.”

Dyck stepped down from coaching last year, but at the state volleyball tournament his wife Robin said “you really miss this, don’t you,” and he had to admit he did.

After Reno, the team will take a couple of weeks off before preparing for the Junior Olympics, and Dyck said there is still a lot the team can improve on.