By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
The Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) Rattlers rumbled their way to the top of the heap in the annual “Rattler Rumble” Senior Girls volleyball tournament in Osoyoos last weekend.
The Rattlers remained undefeated in the six games they played at the two-day tournament, ultimately winning the final in three sets against Summerland on Saturday, Nov. 5.
The round-robin tournament kicked off on Friday, Nov. 4 with 12 teams competing. The Rattler Rumble is an annual event – in non-pandemic years – held every first weekend in November.
Assistant coach John Seminoff said all three matches against Summerland were very close and “the girls played really, really well, it was a great step for them building towards the end of the season.”
The team played Barriere in the morning and then Charles Bloom from Lumby which is ranked 6th in the province currently before taking on Summerland.
“It is a pretty big win,” Seminoff added, because the Rattlers were competing against both similar-sized schools like Charles Bloom, but also much bigger schools as well.
Because of its size, OSS is designated as a single “A” school but competes against larger double, triple, and quad “A” schools.
Seminoff said it puts the Senior Girls team in a good position for the upcoming provincial championships in early December. “We are building towards that, we still have to go through the Zones and the Valleys and they’re going to be very tough this year with just strong competition in the Valleys.”
The South Zone consists of Keremeos, Princeton and Osoyoos and the top school from this zone goes to the Valleys which is everything from Kamlops, Kelowna and down to Osoyoos, he explains.
Don Urquhart photo
The top eight single “A” schools will meet at the Valleys and from there the best three make it to the Provincials in the first week of December. The Valleys will take place in Kelowna on Nov. 19-20.
“This was just a huge step for the girls to build confidence and go towards the Valleys and hopefully the Provincials.
“But we are realistic, we don’t see ourselves as there yet as Provincial contenders but we really think we can put a good showing in if we make it there.”
Seminoff said the OSS Junior Girls team and Grade 8 teams have also done well. The Grade 8 team finished third in their league and will be competing in their Zone championships on Nov. 15 in Oliver at SOSS. And on Nov. 17 the Junior Girls will be competing in their zone in Summerland. There is no provincial championship for the Junior and Grade 8 teams.
Don Urquhart photo
