The Prince George Kodiaks won five of six matches en route to the bronze medal in the 15-and-under boys division at the Volleyball B.C. provincial club championships in Abbotsford on the weekend.
The Kodiaks, coached by Jay Guillet, defeated the Delta Eagles 2-0 (25-20, 25-15) in the match for third overall in the 17-team tournament.
Prince George dug up a 3-0 record in its round-robin with 2-0 victories over Richmond's Air Attack Black (25-21, 25-18) and Vancouver's Thunder Blue (26-24, 25-11). The Kodiaks won a close 2-1 match over the Eagles (25-23, 24-26, 15-12) to wrap up the round-robin.
In the quarter-final, they downed the Surrey Force 2-0 (25-18, 25-16), but fell to White Rock's Seaside Surf in straight sets (25-20, 25-16) in the semifinal.
The Kodiaks rebounded in the bronze-medal match with the victory against the Eagles.
Cody Boulding of the Kodiaks was selected as an all-star.
The Coquitlam/Surrey Focus Blur won the gold medal with a 2-1 victory over the Seaside Surf.
In the 15U girls division, Kodiaks Red finished fourth overall in Division 3, while Kodiaks Black placed seventh overall in Division 4.
The Red squad finished second in its round-robin pool with victories against Victoria (25-20, 25-20) and Kelowna Kash (25-11, 25-16). Its only loss came against Vancouver's Thunder Silver in three sets.
In the quarter-final, Red defeated Surrey's Focus Mavericks (25-19, 25-22) to advance to the semifinal. White Rock's Seaside Storm downed Prince George in three sets (25-14, 9-25, 16-14) in the semifinal.
The Thunder Silver edged Red 2-0 (25-20, 26-24) in the bronze-medal match.
In Division 4, Kodiaks Black served to three-set victories against Parksville Volleyball Club Thunder (25-16, 22-25, 15-6) and North Shore Stars (25-11, 20-25, 15-12) to finish first in their round-robin pool.
In the quarter-final, Surrey's Synergy JP defeated the Kodiaks 2-1 (25-13, 10-25, 15-10), which knocked them out of medal contention. Kodiaks Black then fell to Stars White (25-23, 25-22). They rebounded with a 2-0 victory against the Powell River Aces (25-16, 25-17) to finish seventh.
In the 16U girls bracket, Kodiaks Red, coached by Dave Dalcanale, finished sixth overall in Division 1, while Kodiaks Black, coached by Allan Tong, finished eighth overall in Division 2.
Kodiaks Red finished second in their round-robin pool with a 2-1 record, defeating Seaside Storm (25-27, 25-19, 15-10) and Air Attack Gold (25-12, 25-15). Their only loss came against the Coquitlam Ducks Bryan, 25-16, 25-19.
In the cross-over game, the Kodiaks defeated the Powell River Aces 2-1 (25-20, 22-25, 15-6) to advance to the quarter-final where they fell to the Alberni Valley Airborne in three sets (25-13, 22-25, 15-8). Prince George defeated Seaside Surf (25-13, 25-14) but lost to the Thompson Region Volleyball Club 2-1 to wrap up the tournament and finish sixth overall.
In Division 2, Kodiaks Black went into the tournament ranked as the 14th seed after playing single-A volleyball all season and winning the Super Series in Burnaby in March.
Prince George finished first in its round-robin pool with a 2-1 record (and a slim margin of .01 per cent) with victories against Vancouver's Thunder Pascal (25-13, 28-26) and Vancouver's Action (25-18, 25-15).
The Kodiaks only round-robin loss was against Penticton's Volleytech 99's in their first match with scores of 32-30 and 25-18.
In the cross-over, Vancouver's Infinity edged Prince George 2-1 (25-21, 23-25, 15-13), which knocked them out of playoff contention. Kodiaks Black then suffered two more straight-set losses against Kelowna's T2 Volleyball Club Crew and the Focus Hurricanes.
Players include Lezzyl Aquino, Erin Cole, Emma Crossan, Jenna Froescul, Justine Hamilton, Alexis Magrath, Grace Meehan, Alexx Ntapas, Sian Steindl, Clara Temoin, Macaela Young and Isabel Zimmerman. The team will travel to Calgary for nationals on May 13.
The Kodiaks 16U boys finished ninth overall in their division, posting an overall record of 5-2. They defeated the Victoria Chargers with scores of 25-16, 25-18 and Abbotsford Orangemen 2-1 (18-25, 25-18, 15-8), but fell to the Air Attack Gold 2-0 and Kelowna Kollision 2-1.
The Kodiaks then rattled off consecutive victories against the Orangemen, Nanaimo Mariners and Focus Impact to finish ninth.
