It was another action-packed week for the Blue Jags, with teams earning tournament titles, testing themselves against tough Island competition, and showing steady progress in league play. From the Senior Girls Field Hockey team’s championship run at the Ferreira Cup to strong performances across volleyball, soccer, and cross country, SMUS athletes continue to impress with their skill, resilience, and teamwork.
Senior Girls Field Hockey
The SMUS-1 Competitive Field Hockey team enjoyed a busy and successful week, highlighted by a championship performance in the Ferreira Cup tournament on the weekend at Shawnigan Lake and Duncan.
The Blue Jags won four straight games to capture the Ferreira Cup, a tournament that featured the strongest teams on Vancouver Island. They began the event with a 1-0 win over Shawnigan Lake School on Friday morning with Mackenna Brown supplying the game’s lone goal. SMUS followed that up by overpowering Alberni 6-0 in its second game, getting two goals apiece from Brown, Elspeth Rodger, and Farah Sinclair.
The Blue Jags recorded a convincing 3-0 win over Brentwood College on Saturday morning, powered by Brown’s two-goal performance and a single from Rodger. This set the stage for SMUS to meet the tournament’s other undefeated team, Quw’utsun, on Saturday afternoon in its final match, in front of the Ferreira family for whom the trophy is named.
The Blue Jags played a solid game to wrap up the tournament title with a 2-0 victory over Quw’utsun, passing the ball well and defending in numbers. SMUS forwards managed to hit the post twice in the first 15 minutes and, despite some sustained Quw’utsun pressure, SMUS held on and showcased patience, fitness, and an all-round skill set to dominate the second half. Brown set up Sinclair to score two second-half goals. Emma Knoblochova and Ailo Streitel shared the goalkeeping duties and did not surrender a goal over the entire tournament.
In Lower Island league play last week, the Jags defeated a strong Glenlyon-Norfolk School team 2-1 on Monday with both goals coming from Brown, followed by a convincing 6-0 win over Oak Bay-1 on Wednesday, with Rodger scoring a hat trick. Olive Winters added a pair of goals while Julia Nemitz had a single. Knoblochova recorded the shutout.
SMUS faces Oak Bay in Lower Island league play this Wednesday at UVic, before heading to Vancouver on the weekend for what should be a highly competitive Independent Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) tournament at Crofton House.
The SMUS-2 team also played two Lower Island league games last week, recording a 1-1 tie with GNS-2 on Monday and a close 5-4 loss to Lambrick on Wednesday. SMUS-2 plays St. Andrew’s this Wednesday in its next league game.
Senior Boys Volleyball
The SMUS Senior Boys Volleyball team captured the Silver Division title in the 16-team Spikes and Aces tournament held on Friday and Saturday at Spectrum.
The Blue Jags won three straight matches on Saturday, including a 25-18, 16-25, 15-10 decision over AA rival Lambrick Park in the final. The Blue Jags won three straight matches Saturday, also defeating Cedar 25-11, 25-16, and Surrey’s Guildford Park 25-18, 25-11.
SMUS opened the tournament on Friday with a 25-11, 25-18 win over Duncan Christian. The Blue Jags also dropped 2-0 match decisions to both Dover Bay of Nanaimo and Claremont to finish third in Pool D.
The Senior Boys also split two matches and lost one in Lower Island league play last Wednesday at Belmont. SMUS fell 2-0 to Claremont but tied both Royal Bay and host Belmont 1-1.
SMUS will host Lower Island league play this Wednesday, beginning at 6 p.m., with teams from Esquimalt, Royal Bay, and Reynolds visiting.
Senior Girls Volleyball
The SMUS Senior Girls Volleyball team won three straight matches on Saturday to reach the Silver Division final of the 28-team Vancouver Island University tournament in Nanaimo.
The Blue Jags defeated North Island Secondary in their crossover match (25-19, 25-10), beat John Barsby (25-18, 25-21), and downed Cedar (25-21, 25-10). In the Silver Division final, SMUS dropped two close games to Pacific Christian (20-25, 19-25).
SMUS went 1-2 in three close preliminary pool matches on Friday’s opening day of the tournament. The Blue Jags lost to Gulf Islands (21-25, 23-25), beat Brooks of Powell River (25-22, 27-25), and lost to Chilliwack (17-25, 25-20,14-16). Those results left the team third in its pool.
Last Tuesday, the Blue Jags won three of the four Lower Island league games they played at Mount Douglas. The Blue Jags beat the host school 2-0 (25-22, 26-24) and split a pair of games with Lambrick Park (18-25, 25-14).
SMUS will take part in the Camosun University tournament this weekend.
Junior Boys Volleyball
The Junior Boys Volleyball team got its season off to an excellent start, winning three of four Lower Island league sets against Claremont and Vic High, and then placing fourth overall in the Camosun Chargers tournament on the weekend.
The Junior Jags won two of their three matches as the Camosun tournament opened on Friday at PISE. The Junior Jags defeated Pacific Christian (25–22, 21–25,15–12) before falling to Reynolds (18–25, 20–25). SMUS rebounded to win its third match against Parkland (25–18, 25–16).
On Saturday, SMUS beat Belmont in its first match (25-23, 21-25, 15-12) before falling to both Nanaimo District Secondary (23-25, 24-26) and Stelly’s (11-25, 9-25) to place fourth.
The Blue Jags won three of the four Lower Island league sets they played last Thursday, sweeping Claremont B in their opener (25-16, 24-14) and then splitting with Vic High Black (18-25, 25-23).
“Kian Harris was a serving machine, Jacob Ji made some incredible saves, and Declan Ross electrified the gym with his monster blocks,” said SMUS Coach James Rees of his team’s play last week.
The Junior Jags will see their next regular season action on Oct. 9, when they play host to Parkland.
Junior Girls Volleyball
The Junior Girls Volleyball team also tipped off its season last week, splitting games with Edward Milne in Lower Island league play and hosting a fun tournament on Friday playing against both Mount Douglas and Vic High.
“Some highlights were Ava Crawford’s amazing serving runs, Nola Taylor’s undiggable spikes, and the amazing passing from libero Iben Hamilton,” said Head Coach Samantha Butler.
The Junior Jags will also play in the Camosun University tournament this Friday and Saturday.
Cross Country
Rina Chida turned in the SMUS Cross Country team’s top finish with a seventh-place showing in the second race of the Lower Island league series last Wednesday at UVic. Chida finished the five-kilometre Senior Girls race in 23:37 while teammate Sophie De Launiere was 16th in 26:00.
Finlay Hlannon of SMUS placed 10th in the five-kilometre Senior Boys race, finishing in 19:09. Teammate Michael Carpiano was 18th in 20:47 and Henri Jungkind placed 19th in 21:09.
SMUS runner Pacal Krawez finished eighth in the Junior Boys four-kilometre event in 15:20 while teammate Isaac Ren was ninth in 15:26. Soichiro Yamane of SMUS was 15th in 15:59.
Natalie DiFelice-Oinonen of SMUS placed ninth in the four-kilometre Junior Girls event in 17:53, just in front of teammate Ella Buckley who was 10th in 17:56. Aleysia Accad of SMUS finished 18th in 18:47, and Allegra Tollkin was 19th in 18:49.
The next league race is Thursday, Oct. 9, at Beaver Lake.
Senior Boys Soccer
Coming off a championship run in the ISAA tournament the previous weekend, the Senior Boys played to a tie and a loss in two Lower Island league games this past week.
The visiting Blue Jags fell 5-0 to Reynolds on Tuesday at Braefoot Park. On Thursday, SMUS and visiting Claremont played to a scoreless draw in an evenly matched, physical game in which both teams had their chances.
The SMUS Senior Boys will host Royal Bay in their next league game this Thursday, beginning at 3:45 pm.
Junior Boys Soccer
The Junior Boys Soccer team brought home the bronze medal from the ISAA tournament this past weekend at Brentwood College.
After an exhibition against the Brentwood Senior team on Friday morning, the Junior Jags kicked off formal tournament play with a 2-0 loss to the Brentwood Junior A team.
The game was intense from the kickoff and SMUS found itself down a goal early after a defensive mistake. The Jags came out strong in the second half, led by Evan Pressello and Avery Mavrikos. With 10 minutes left, the team continued to push and the ball appeared to the SMUS bench to strike the arm of a Brentwood player in the box. Unfortunately for SMUS, no penalty was called and Brentwood scored its second goal on a counter-attack.
The result meant SMUS needed to beat St. George’s on Saturday in order to advance to the ISAA final. That game was back and forth with Alex MacKay scoring a penalty shot to tie it at 1-1 mid-way through the second half. St. George’s responded soon after, but SMUS continued to control the action thanks to strong play from Vlad Gaidelis attacking and Will Hamilton at the back. With time running out, MacKay got on the end of a cross and tied the game 2-2. With minutes left, SMUS continued to push for the win but was denied by the crossbar just before the final whistle.
Earlier in the week, the Blue Jags earned two Lower Island league victories, beating Claremont 5-3 at Lochside Park on Tuesday and edging Reynolds 3-2 at home on Wednesday.
The Jags trailed Claremont 3-2 in the second half but turned it around thanks to excellent defending from Hamilton and Oscar Pressello. Santiago Rankin scored twice in the win, with singles coming from MacKay, Mavrikos, and Rhys Beare.
The Jags’ first home game against Reynolds was back and forth with the team struggling to get going in the first half. Hard work and skill from Yusuke Tomita settled the midfield, while Marcus Bellows and Tor Nelson helped solidify the defensive line. A hat trick from MacKay, including a fantastic header early in the game, secured the win.
The Junior Jags will not play this week. Their next league game is Monday, Oct. 6 against visiting Belmont.
