Six-time provincial champion Kelly Scott headlines the list of eight skips looking to capture this year’s Scotties B.C. Women’s Curling Championship presented by Best Western.
The Kelowna native won four consecutive B.C. titles from 2010-13 and almost made it five in a row before her team fell to Kesa Van Osch in last year’s final after the Nanaimo rink stole a point in the 10th end to win 5-4.
Scott, who also won two Canadian titles and one world championship, shook up her roster in the summer. Lead Sarah Pyke is Scott’s only returning teammate from last season but they’ve added a pair of veteran curlers in new third Shannon Aleksic and second Karla Thompson. Aleksic won the 2007 B.C. title playing for Kelley Law while Thompson was the 2008 champion on Allison MacInnes’s team. The new Team Scott played a lighter schedule this season but they’re still the top B.C. rink on the World Curling Tour’s order of merit rankings at 34th overall.
The B.C. Scotties event kicks off with a rematch of last year’s final as Scott and Van Osch go head-to-head in Draw 1 of the triple knockout tournament where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to advance to the playoffs.
Defending champ Van Osch also has a new lineup with her featuring sister Kalia at third (winner of last year’s B.C. junior title), second Trysta Vandale and lead Kelsey Steiger.
Meanwhile, Van Osch’s former teammates Stephanie Jackson-Baier, Jessie Sanderson and Carley St. Blaze joined Dailene Sivertson of Victoria. Sivertson played third for Scott during the 2011-12 season and returned to skipping her own team this year after two seasons in Saskatchewan on Amber Holland’s rink. With three members of last year’s winning squad, they’ll be keen to repeat as champions.
Other contenders include Patti Knezevic, who has reached the B.C. finals twice and served as the alternate for Team Van Osch during the Canadian Scotties last season. Knezevic, from Prince George, came in relief at skip when Van Osch missed two games due to illness.
Sarah Wark of Victoria has shined on tour capturing the Vancouver Island Shootout title and reaching the finals at the Cloverdale Cash Spiel event.
The Scotties B.C. Women’s Curling Championship presented by Best Western starts Wednesday in Maple Ridge, B.C. Tune in to Sportsnet Pacific for semifinal coverage Sunday starting at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT.