The 2011 BC High School AAA Senior Girls Provincial Volleyball Championship got underway at Ballenas Secondary School Thursday morning.
Tournament chair Carrie Philip welcomed the players, who filed out onto the court one team at a time. Parksville mayor Chris Burger was also on hand to mark the start of three days of exciting volleyball featuring the top 16 teams in the province.
The hometown Whalers go into the big annual showcase, which runs Thursday through Saturday, ranked No. 1 off the rock.
The blue and white kickstarted the B.C.s with three games on Thursday.
There will be games running all day Friday, with the bronze medal game going at 3:45 p.m. Saturday and the gold medal match to follow at 5:30 p.m.