Trust is the key for high school volleyball teams.
No matter how good the team appears if the players don't trust each other their chances of winning diminish.
As each team builds toward the zone and provincial championship they play in a variety of tournaments, including overnight weekend ones.
Kate Quelch, captain of the Duchess Park Condors girls' squad, said the road trips help teams develop closeness.
"Everyone just gets to know each other and people are a little less tense," said Quelch. "People are there for each other and that's when you get to know your teammates and really trust them."
After an early season 33rd place finish at the UBC tournament, the Condors found a cohesiveness on Thanksgiving weekend at the UBCO tournament in Kelowna, where they won a hard fought three-set match over Vernon's Clarence Fulton - the 2010 triple-A champions - when Condors' power-hitter Stephanie Welch pulled the team into a 14-14 tie with stellar serving.
"We were screaming like animals," said Quelch. "We were just excited and it was fun to play, not only to win, but you can tell everyone just loves the sport and was really enjoying it."
The Condors wound up in 10th place at the UBCO tournament, while the PGSS Polars finished seventh, not bad, said Polars' setter Brooklyn Seeman.
"We were all pretty sick and didn't do very well in our round-robin play, but we won our crossover," said Seeman. "Then we struggled again. Seventh was a good placing for our play, but it wasn't want we wanted."
The two teams continued to work towards their peaks last weekend at the College Heights senior girls invitational tournament where they faced each other in the gold-medal final.
"We were really drained and they're a really great team and did a really good job and we just weren't ready for the plays they were running," said Quelch about losing 25-15, 25-20 to the Polars.
The CHSS Cougars downed the D.P. Todd Trojans 25-19, 25-16 for the bronze medal.
Both the Polars and Condors won all four of their round-robin matches, finishing first in their respective pools. In the semifinals, the Polars proved too much for the Trojans, dispatching them 25-19, 25-16, while the Condors slipped past the Cougars 25-18, 25-17.
Quelch earned the set point for the Condors when she faked a spike and then put a soft volley to the floor.
"I think changing it up and seeing what happens on the court is a good idea," said Quelch. "My coaches told me I'm not a very good tipper, so I believe a bit of practice has helped with that."
With four weeks until the zone championship, Quelch said, the Condors are on the right track.
"We're getting closer as a team," said the 17-year-old power hitter. " We're learning to trust each other. We know who is taking what balls and we're really working harder. I think our peak is much later to come."
Over at PGSS, Seeman said, the best thing about this season's team is there's no drama.
"We have a good team this year, everyone gets along super good," said Seeman. "We have a very funny team. We're just all goof balls, so it's fun to be around each other."
The girls return to the volleyball court Oct. 28 and 29 for the Kelly Road senior girls tournament.
