The East Kootenay Volleyball Club 18-and-under girls team is moving up the ranks.

After starting the Alberta Volleyball Association (AVA) season with a 25th-place finish in Red Deer, they followed up with gold in Division 2.

After moving up to Division 1, they later took fifth spot in a 52-team tournament in Edmonton.

“We have a pretty good team,” said coach Lisa Ramsey, who took over once the College of the Rockies’ season ended.

“And they ask better questions than my college girls. It’s challenging. It’s fun.”

The girls breezed through the Division 2 field at the Alberta Volleyball Premier Tournament in Calgary on February 20 and 21.

In Edmonton last weekend, they were undefeated in pool play, losing just one set in that time.

They advanced to the top eight where they lost to one of the premier clubs in Alberta after missing warmup because of a delay with breakfast.

The EKVC girls proceeded to beat their final opponent, who featured a 6-foot-6 front-row player.

The local club isn’t short on height itself, with four girls over six-foot, with Brianne Rauch’s vertical among the best in the association.

“She might as well be six-six,” mused Ramsey.

The team travels to Grande Prairie at the end of March followed by the Alberta Provincial championships in Sherwood Park, April 17-18. The final event of the season will be the Canadian Open Championships in Abbotsford on May 14-16.

The club joined the AVA this year because it will mean less time on the bus and away from school.

“The only people that don’t like it in Alberta are the ones that we beat,” said Ramsey. “Which, right now, is a lot of them.”

The EKVC has more than 120 athletes registered this season. Although the older teams (18 and under) are well underway, the other age groups are just beginning.

The entry-level teams (14 and under) are still taking registrations. For more information, visit the club website at www.ekvcvolleyball.com.