The Duchess Park Condors are enjoying the view from the top.
Since the second week of the season the Condors have owned bragging rights as the No. 1-ranked senior boys volleyball team in B.C.'s double-A division and they have no intention of letting that slip away on them when they return to the court this weekend in Kamloops.
"It's been a long time since anyone from the north has come out on top (of the rankings) and it feels great but we're still playing like we're underdogs, still playing hard and not letting it get to our heads," said Condors setter Carter Karpenko.
"Sometimes it's a little nerve-wracking coming into the gym with everyone looking at us as Number 1 but I think we really play to our best."
Winners of three of the four tournaments they've entered this season, the Condors know they're going to run into some tough customers starting today at the Thompson Rivers University Howler tournament. The Condors are in a power pool with St. Paul's of Winnipeg, considered one of the top high school teams in Manitoba, and Mount Boucherie of Kelowna, which moved up this week to No. 1 in the B.C. triple-A rankings.
Eight Condors are Grade 12 players, including the usual starters: middle blocker Cody Boulding; right-side hitter Ryan Hampe; power hitters Max Bast, Matthew Kuc and Malcolm MacDonald; and setter Karpenko. They all played key roles while leading Duchess Park to a sixth-place finish at the double-A provincials last December.
The six-foot-five Hampe made the switch over the summer from middle blocker to the right side and that gives the Condors more options on offence.
The other team members are Quinn Dunphy, Bruce Yu (both Grade 12s), Isaac Northrop, Jonas Singh, Taylor Peterson and Kyle McKee. The latter four moved up from the junior A Condors team which finished third in the province last year.
"We're a pretty strong group with a lot of potential - Colin (Duchess Park head coach Carson) has helped a lot with it," said Boulding. "I'm expecting (to finish) top-five or top-three at TRU, that would be a very good goal for us. A lot of good triple-A teams are going to be there like Earl Marriott, MEI and Abbotford Christian, the third-ranked (double-A) team."
Carson, who returned to Prince George this year after playing volleyball internationally in Denmark, is a former Condors setter who went on to play at TRU. He's taken over the head coaching duties from Duchess Park principal Lee Karpenko, who had the senior team the past three seasons. Dan Drezet is the assistant coach.
"We were a strong team before and I think Colin has really helped us unlock our full potential," said Carter Karpenko. "He helps me a lot with my setting and he helps everyone with the mental game and strategy. We run a really good offence, we run it fast and hard. No one can keep up with our offence."
Last weekend at the Best of the West tournament in Kelowna the Condors lost a close match in the quarterfinal round to Jasper Place of Edmonton, the No. 2-ranked quad-A team in Alberta. Duchess Park finished tied for fifth place with the College Heights Cougars, the seventh-ranked double-A team in B.C. The Cougars are also entered this weekend in the TRU tournament.
The Condors have yet to lose a match to a B.C. team this season and they're on top of the six-team Prince George Volleyball Club senior boys city league, which was formed this year. Teams play Wednesday nights at the College of New Caledonia and the city league final is scheduled for Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at CNC.
Following on the success of the high school basketball city league, the experiment to create a league for local volleyball teams to give them more games during the season has proved popular and will likely be expanded to include senior girls teams next year.
Prince George has a long tradition as a hotbed of volleyball talent. Several Prince George players are being recruited by university teams, including Boulding, a provincial under-18 team member, and Hampe, who served as an alternate on B.C.'s U-18 team which won bronze in August at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg.
Having strong competition in their home city and a well-organized club system that produces teams which do well in national championships has served the Condors well.
"It's awesome because then we don't need to travel as much to get the competition we need to make ourselves better," said Carter Karpenko. "We play against College Heights and the (club) alumni team and it really helps us improve our games."
