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Written by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 25 November 2008 |
They are seeded seventh. But, head coach Jay Guillet sees no reason why his College Heights Cougars shouldn’t shoot for gold at provincials.
The Cougars begin the senior boys volleyball double-A provincial tournament today in Kelowna with a match against fifth-ranked Clarence Fulton of Vernon.
“A top-eight placing would be great, but I’m looking at a medal,” Guillet said Tuesday night from Kelowna. “Why not? I said, ‘Shoot for the gold, guys. If you guys are on, why not? You can play with the best teams.’ I mean, (earlier in the year) when we played MEI (the No. 1 seed for provincials), we lost 25-23, 25-20, so we’ve shown we can score points against the top team in the province. If (the players) believe in each other, good things will happen.”
The tournament features 16 teams, including the third-ranked Duchess Park Condors of Prince George. Matches will continue through Saturday, with the championship final planned for 5 p.m.
The oddsmakers have MEI facing second-ranked Langley Christian for B.C. gold.
After the Cougars face Clarence Fulton today at 11:15 a.m., they’ll reload for contests against Templeton at 3 p.m. and George Elliot at 5 p.m. Templeton, from Vancouver, is ranked sixth for provincials and George Elliot, from Winfield, is eighth.
Guillet said it’s important to post winning results on the first day.
“It’s crucial,” he said. “It’s a confidence-booster for kids when they come in and do well. You get that first (win), you get those jitterbugs off and you feel like, ‘We’re in the groove now.’ That first match will be good.”
During the season, the Cougars went 2-1 against Clarence Fulton. College Heights has not faced Templeton but has gone up against, and beaten, George Elliot.
Last year at provincials, the Cougars were ranked 12th and finished 10th. Four players from that team -- Dalton Jones, Christian Dougherty, Dylan Augaitis and Steven Fowlie -- are back in the mix this year and Guillet expects them to be the leaders on the floor.
“Absolutely,” he said. “They have experience, and some of those kids have had experience at (club) nationals last (summer). With all the distractions here, I’ll talk to them about keeping composed, playing, persevering.”
The Condors have the tough task of playing top-seeded MEI right off the bat today. The match will start at 12:30 p.m. Also today, the Condors will play No. 2 Langley Christian at 4 p.m. and No. 4 Fraser Valley Christian at 6:45 p.m.
All teams will be re-seeded based on their results from the opening day.
Kelowna is also the site of the triple-A boys provincials. The PGSS Polars are ranked 17th in that 20-team tournament. The Polars have three matches today, against Burnaby North, Oak Bay and Correlieu of Quesnel.
Fleetwood Park of Surrey enters the triple-A provincials as the top seed, and Yale of Abbotsford is No. 2. The championship match will start Saturday at 7 p.m. Both the double-A and triple-A finals will be held at UBC Okanagan.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 November 2008 )
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