They’ve worked their keesters off to get this far, now it’s time for Prince George high school volleyball teams to find out how they stack up against the best in the province.
A week later than originally planned, due to a historic rainstorm and mudslides that closed highways in southern B.C., the B.C. School Sports volleyball provincial championships start this week and Prince George will have a strong contingent of teams trying to get their hands on a B.C banner to hang in their school gym.
The North Central zone-champion Duchess Park Condors will get cracking at the double-A championship starting on Wednesday at Pacific Christian Secondary School in Victoria and they’ll have some familiar competition.
The 16-team tournament includes the sixth-ranked College Heights Cougars. The No. 3 Condors claimed the zone title to weeks ago with a straight-set victory over College Heights. Mennonite Educational Institute of Abbotsford is the top seed and host Pacific Christian is No. 2, just ahead of the Condors.
The triple-A boys championship also gets underway Wednesday, in Kelowna, where the host Kelowna Owls are the top-ranked team in a field of 20. The Prince George Polars are seeded 19th.
The single-A boys provincials start Thursday at Nanaimo Christian in Nanaimo and the North Central zone-champion Cedars Christian Eagles carry the No. 2 ranking, behind Abbotsford Christian.
The Cedars Christian senior girls also made the grade for their single-A provincials at Mount Sentinel in Castlegar. The Eagles won their 11th-straight zone championship two weeks ago in three sets over the Fort St. James Falcons. The Falcons will also represent North Central at the 14-team provincial tournament, which starts Thursday.
The D.P. Todd Trojans are in flood ravaged Abbotsford for the double-A girls championship, after claiming the zone title with a four-set victory of the Shas Ti Kelly Road Grizzlies. The 13-team tournament at MEI starts Thursday at 10 a.m.
The courts at Crofton House and Little Flower Academy in Vancouver will come to life Thursday morning for the triple-A girl championship and the Duchess Park Condors will represent the North Central zone at the 14-team tournament.
