Defensa Volleyball Club from Burlington, Ontario and WinMan Legends from Winnipeg have been crowned the top 18 and under teams in the country after this weekends 17U/18U National Championships in Edmonton.

Defensa (read about their unlikely road to Nationals here) extends its medal streak to three years, after having won 18U silver last year, and 18U gold in 2011. They defeated provincial neighbor Diamonds Volleyball Club from Toronto, 25-13, 20-25, 15-12.

The bronze medal match was an all B.C. affair as FVVC Blitz from Langley defeated 27-25, 18-25, 15-13.

This is the first time in National Championships history that two teams from Ontario have faced off in the 18U women’s final.

WinMan Legends defeated last year’s 17U gold medalist, NAVC Gold Bears 25-21, 25-21. A team from Alberta has failed to win a National Championship since 2007, with Ontario winning four (Pakmen ’08, Mavericks ’09, Crush ’11, ’12) and Manitoba adding a third (Bisons ’07, Strike ’10). This is also the 10th time a team from Winnipeg, regardless of club, has taken the number one spot in the country, the most of any Canadian city.

Another Provincial battle went on in the boys bronze medal game, with the Ottawa Maverick Mustangs, last year’s silver medalists, overcoming Durham Attack Black, and probably the country’s best 18U players Lucas Coleman, 25-23, 18-24, 15-13.

For Coleman, he came just shy of being the first player in Canadian volleyball history to medal in three consecutive 18U National Championships, having been a key member of Crush that took it all home in 2011 and 2012. Although he didn't return home empty handed, leaving with his second straight 18U All-Star award.

To check out all standings and scores from this year's National Championships, please visit www.iset.net.

This week on the show we speak to Canadian beach volleyball national team members Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan.  We also discuss FIVB World League, and the Junior National B Team on their way to the FISU games.  Everett also goes on a little bit of a rant at the end.  Check it out.

To listen to this episode, click here.

Here’s a blog I wrote while sitting in the Shanghai airport while waiting for my flight: Well we finished 25th, 2 points away from securing a win in pool play against the 1-seed (only due to being the host country) and advancing to the single elimination playoff rounds. Definitely tough to swallow but throughout the [...]

Read more over at Maverick Hatch 's blog.

We put together a little video for this year's World League.  Check it out above and if you haven't yet, get your World League tickets over at volleyball.ca

So much has happened since our victory in the Cayman Islands! Here's a quick recap:

We went directly to the next stop on the NORCECA tour in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. We had some solid games in pool play but had a tough match in the quarter finals vs Mexico and ended up with a 5th place finish. Disappointing after such a successful previous tournament, but there was lots to learn from this experience, stuff that has made us a stronger team now having gone through that. 

We were home for two weeks, where we continued to train hard, and get organized for our trip to China. This included getting our Chinese visas and lots of food (camping meals, protein bars, oatmeal, nuts, etc). Our suitcases were pretty heavy! 

Read more over at Kristina Valjas' blog.