Gamache, BVC grow through competition
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The Brandon Volleyball Club 18-and-under boys have some giant shoes to fill this year, but they’re on a great path.
Last year’s 18U squad capped their club careers with back-to-back provincial titles, and now it’s up to a new group to defend the crown.
Outside hitter Lucas Gamache, who played high school ball at Neelin with a bunch of those players last year, is certainly motivated to keep BVC at the top.
Grade 11 outside hitter Lucas Gamache celebrates a point during the Neelin Spartans volleyball season. The AAA provincial all-star is playing up with BVC’s 18U team. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“It set the bar for how I play myself and how I want the team to compete. It puts drive in my mind to play with more effort,” Gamache said.
BVC won the 17U title with a dominant gold-medal match over 204 Volleyball Club. The following year, a few 204 guys jumped ship to stack a Winman team, which still fell to BVC in the final. That group reached the national final, while Brandon lost in the quarterfinals.
Last weekend was the first big test for the top teams at the Best of the West in Calgary.
BVC beat Summit and Junior Dinos, but lost badly to Apex in pool play and finished second in the group.
It lost a narrow quarterfinal, 15-12 in the third set, to Junior Cascades. While it was disappointing to fall to the consolation side, there was a giant silver lining.
Brandon swept Winman in the B-side semifinals. BVC fell 2-1 to Northern Alberta in the fifth-place match, but left Calgary knowing a provincial title is attainable.
“If we play our game, we’re head and head against those guys,” Gamache said.
“We’re coming together really good. We’re playing better as a team, but need to focus on the little things more. We have all the skills we need individually; we play together, but we can do the little things better.”
Gamache represents something growing increasingly rare in the club volleyball scene, in that he is playing up a year. Athletes with late birthdays are allowed to play down, and some choose to do so for more playing time.
The six-foot attacker could stay in 17U and be a star, but he opted to join a loaded 18U group to push himself.
“It started in Grade 10 when I played varsity,” said Gamache, who started on Neelin’s AAA provincial championship team that year, and was a provincial all-star as the Spartans defended in 2025.
“(Neelin head coach) Jake (Thomson) really pushed me to be better on the court and off. Playing 17U, Bryce (Wilson) taught me a lot of the things I know now. It makes me push myself even more to get better and stay at the level I want to be at.”
Interestingly, this BVC group is nothing like the last one, which had a clear-cut top line with a superstar in Vincent Massey product Ethan Baraniuk.
Logan Van Santen of the Vincent Massey Vikings is one of many talented attacking options for BVC 18U coach Rylan Metcalf. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
Gamache genuinely isn’t sure what his team’s best lineup is because so many players can contribute in multiple positions, and position battles are so close.
Gamache and Neelin middle blocker Sam Rempel teamed up with Massey sophomore setter Sam Redekop and attackers Logan Van Santen, Nikos Tellidis and Griffin Zilkey. The group also includes Crocus Plainsmen Edwin Jager, Dauphin native Gabe Beaudin — a Brandon University commit — Elton’s Jack Hutton, Wawanesa’s Dylan Granger and Glenboro’s Evan Griffin, plus Peter and Solomon Letain of Winnipeg’s Glenlawn Collegiate.
“No matter who we put out there, it’s always a solid group, always have a good amount of energy and it’s a good environment to be around,” said Gamache, who didn’t have enough players for a full six-on-six scrimmage in high school, let alone one against all the best players in Westman.
“Going up against people in games, then going against Nikos (Tellidis) and Sam (Rempel) in practice, it’s pretty even. With how intense we are in practice and how it relates to game play, it’s pretty similar.”
The team also has a deep coaching staff under Rylan Metcalf, including Grant Wilson, Bryce Wilson, Paul Friesen, Dan Ashefield, Paycen Warkentin and Liam Pauls.
“It’s a lot of feedback, which I love,” Gamache said. “It’s different, but at the end of the day, it’s making me better and I love it.”
BVC’s home tournament is this weekend at the Healthy Living Centre, with the 16U event beginning Friday and running until Saturday’s final at 3 p.m.
The 17U and 18U events start Saturday and end Sunday, with both finals starting at 4:30 p.m.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com