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Condors complete comeback in zone volleyball final |
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Written by TED CLARKE
Citizen staff
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Sunday, 16 November 2008 |
Leading two sets to none, the College Heights Cougars had to be thinking ahead to the provincial double-A boys volleyball championship.
The Duchess Park Condors were missing their passes, blasting their spikes out of bounds and looking worried as they crossed over to the other side of the court.
Instead of crashing, the underdog Condors discovered their wings in Saturday's north central zone zone championship and in a stirring comeback won the next three sets to clinch the title 22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 27-25, 15-12.
"At the end of the second set we picked up the momentum and completely turned around our attitude and just came back," said Condors setter and tournament MVP Colin Carson.
"We missed a lot of serves but that's because we were going for tough (jump) serves and when they can't pass the ball, they can't hit the ball, and that's what it came down to."
After owning the Condors the first hour of the match, Cougars first-team all-star power hitter Adam Starzyk said his team of tall trees could not find the killer instinct needed to end the Condors' reign as defending zone champions. Carson and Libero Jon Jull provided the inspiration on defence, negating the leather-pounding efforts of College Heights hitters Adam Starzyk, Christian Dougherty, Steven Fowlie and Dylan Augaitis.
"They just started playing well and started hitting," said Starzyk. "We did some good things but they did them better, I guess. I felt we broke down and didn't hit as much. The third set was a tough won to lose. We were leading them by a point, but it just didn't go our way."
Tied 23-23 in the fourth set, with the Cougars holding serve, Logan Flavel-Keim was in the right place in the power hitter position to tip the ball into a hole in the Cougars' court. On the next play, Flavel-Keim served it into the backcourt to Matt Beckett, who kept the ball alive for Dalton Jones, the top defensive player in the tournament. But his attempt to advance the ball back to the net fell short, and Dougherty was unable to clear the net. That gave the Condors a two-point win in the set and provided the thrust to fuel their finishing flurry.
A series of bad passes and timely tips put the Condors ahead 4-1 and they continued to crack the Cougars' crumbling defence. Starzyk wasn't quite done pulverizing the ball, however, and College Heights came back to tie it 12-12. But that was it for the Cougars' offence. Jan Bienkowski-Gibbs put down a thundering spike, Carson set up Josh Cote from the power side, and Bienkowski-Gibbs stuffed the middle to set up match point. The celebration was on when Flavel-Keim fed Carson a perfect pass from the front row that Carson crushed down the middle.
No admission was charged for the 300 spectators who packed into the gym at College Heights and they were treated to two hours of adrenaline-charged excitement, the kind of athleticism that makes high school sports worth watching.
"I'm just vibrating right now," said Condors head coach Glenn Wong. "I wanted the locals to see what two good teams that have perpetually been in the top rankings in B.C. can do. College Heights is an amazing team and my guys had to fight and dig in and they earned it . They just refused to lose."
The Condors beat the Cougars twice early in the season but lost to them two weeks ago. College Heights was ranked fourth in the province heading into the zone tournament, while the Condors were slotted sixth.
"I guess being the underdogs helped us, nobody expected us to win," said Carson. "I wouldn't be surprised if both of us finish in the top-five in provincials. We both could even medal. It's going to be good."
While the Cougars came out second-best in the zone, their high provincial ranking means they will join the Condors in Kelowna for the provincial tournament, Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in Kelowna.
"When you're trying to finish, that's very hard to do, and they came back and got that third set and the match was on," said Jay Guillet. "Credit to Duchess Park -- they started tipping and changed their game up and it took us time to adjust, and in the end result, that's what was successful for them.
"We've seen the competition and we'll be well-represented at provincials this year with Duchess Park and College Heights. I can accept losing to a talented team like that."
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 16 November 2008 )
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