Limping badly on what used to be her good leg, Amy Hogan tried to put a spring in her step as she walked up to collect her second-team all-star award.
Hours earlier, the Duchess Park Condors ended their run at the triple-A girls volleyball championship with a straight-set loss to Kalamalka (25-23, 25-21) in the fifth-place playoff.
Hogan, a Grade 12 veteran, officially called it quits for her volleyball career to focus on being a doctor, satisfied in the belief she and her Condor teammates gave it all they had trying to win a B.C. title on their home court.
Despite a sprained ankle, Hogan delivered the Condors to a sixth-place finish. With a little help from some portable ultrasound therapy, she persevered, and she wasn't alone in her pain. Condors' starting middle blocker, Nicole Schlick, played hurt in the tournament, having just returned from a rotator cuff injury.
That was the cue for Condor seniors Kelly Matters and Krystie Frederick, and Grade 11 starters Michelle Clotildes, Mackenzie Bouchard, Stephanie Welch and Kate Welch to take advantage of their playing time. They did that well, just not well enough to make the medal round. They played aggressively all season and had some tournament success while their utilizing jump serves, but those serving averages plummeted in the provincials and that hurt the Condors' bottom line.
"Our team has done really well, given the circumstances of a couple injuries -- the team made some amazing plays and stepped up to the plate and I'm extremely pleased," said Condors coach Richard Mintenko. "When we played at UBC and UBC-O, we did well at both tournaments and I felt if we could hold on to that attitude and that spirit we could get a provincial medal and we came pretty close.
"When our star player (Hogan) went down in that Elgin game, it showed the rest of the team could step up and do the job and that was so nice to see."
Duchess defeated McMath in three sets Saturday (25-11, 21-25, 15-11) to advance to the fifth-place game.
The Kelly Road Runners placed 14th, losing a three-set match Saturday to Brookswood (25-15, 14-25, 15-11).
