The NBVL Vancouver season story that began at the Combine and Draft last November found it’s ending not too long ago. Four teams advanced out of the regular season playing both semi final and Vancouver final matchups, and at the end of the night, Pacific Coast was left standing. They were crowned Vancouver champions, and booked their ticket to the NBVL Finals where they will take on the yet to be determined champions from each of Calgary and Edmonton.
The first semi of the day saw Pacific Coast do battle against the #4 seeded Natura Solutions. Irem Eren and Kumi Chow from PCVC defeated Quinci Birker and Kelsi Boroevich of Natura Solutions 2 straight in the women’s match 21-12, 21-17. On the men’s side Jeremy Bednar and Harry Byrne of PC topped Natura’s men’s pair, Hayden Kosmerly and Markiel Simpson, in 3 sets, 21-19, 17-21, 15-9. The 2 match wins put Pacific Coast straight through to the Final without the need for OT.
The next semi final was played between #2 seeded Dunbar Cycles vs #3 seed Skyball. In the men’s match, Lars Bornemann and Alex Harvalias of Skyball controlled the action over Dunbar Cycles’ Rob Venables and Stephen Nash, winning in 2 straight sets, 21-13, 21-13. On the other court it was the roles were reversed as DC’s Alyssa Wolf and Alissa Coulter handled Skyball’s Kaitlynn Given and Danielle Curtis in 2 sets, 21-13, 21-11. It was a fitting Overtime, as the two teams have gone the distance in each of their last 3 matches dating back to last season’s finals between the two. Skyball would prevail, with a 15-8 OT win, giving them the opportunity to defend their title from 2022.
In the finals, PCVC kept their roster set from the semis to the finals. Skyball’s men would stay the same, but opted to make a change in their women’s lineup, with Haruka Arai making the start alongside the 2020 all-star Danielle Curtis. While Skyball would put up a strong showing in the first set of both the men’s (21-19 for PCVC) and women’s (24-22 for PCVC) matches. Pacific Coast gave no quarter for the rest of the match with the Jeremy and Harry solidifying the 21-16 set 2 victory, and Irem and Kumi sealing the deal with a 21-13 exclamation mark.
I can imagine no one was more excited than 2019 MVP Kumi Chow, taking her first NBVL Vancouver title after 4 seasons of play, and 3 Vancouver finals appearances, tying 2 time champ Aly McKay for the most finals appearances among women. Only Skyball opponent Alex Harvalias has played in all 4 Vancouver Finals.
And so, Pacific Coast has booked their ticket to the NBVL Finals. They will need to suffer the long trip across town to Kits Beach this August, where the NBVL Finals will be played out during Kitsfest, Friday, August 11th. The finals will lead off before the Kitsfest King/Queen of the Court tournament which will be played the rest of the weekend.
