It was David over Goliath as the high school volleyball season kicked off.
In only their second trip to the PGYVC Kodiak Classic Invitational tournament the senior girls from Houston Christian school - population about 40 - left the College of New Caledonia in Prince George on Saturday with gold medals, having triumphed in straight sets over the Prince George Polars.
Emily Duzan, coach of Houston Christian, guided her team to a 26-24, 25-10 win over the Polars in the final.
"I'm really proud of my girls," said Duzan. "They have a lot to be thankful for. They worked real hard."
Houston beat out 16 other girls' squads, while the College Heights Cougars senior boys captured their first Kodiak championship banner, defeating North Peace (Fort St. John) 25-17, 25-18 in the final.
It was a seesaw first set as momentum shifted between the Polars and Houston. The Polars rebounded from a 20-23 deficit to take a 24-23 lead, but couldn't get the winning point to fall.
Erika Morris, one of five Grade 12s for the Polars, said losing the first set threw the team off balance and they couldn't recover.
"I think everyone just got down on themselves," said Morris. "We were hitting lots of balls out and our passing wasn't great.
"It was just a mental game and, I think, we can definitely do a lot better," she added. "We can definitely do a lot better."
The Polars were 5-0 before the gold-medal match, having won its pool, while Houston finished second in pool D and needed to beat Fort St. James in order to move on to the quarterfinal. Houston beat North Peace in the quarterfinal, before catching Duchess Park off guard in the semifinal.
Morris said a pair of Houston players - Ruth Hamblin, who towers over everyone on the court and Kelly Ewald, the MVP of the tournament - had the Polars playing into the Houston style of play.
"She has a killer swing and she's just really consistent," said the 17-year-old about Ewald.
Meanwhile, the College Heights Cougars boys knocked off the Kelly Road Roadrunners in the semifinal to pick up the 2011 season right where they left off last year - having won zones.
Cougars captain Nolan Schwab credited all 16 players on the team's roster in helping push the team to a 6-0 finish in the event.
"The guys who were standing on the bench - not [playing in the game] - they helped us a lot, cheering and pumping us up," said Schwab. "That's when we play our best; when we have lots of energy."
The Cougars took advantage of a slow start, and a short bench of seven players, by North Peace to take a 22-11 lead in the first set. North Peace showed grit by battling back and making it difficult for College Heights to close the set - getting the match to 17-24.
Schwab, 17, said it was a strong effort from everyone.
"Our depth on our team is amazing," said Schwab. "We had some guys injured this weekend and [the subs] came in and did an awesome job.
"Our coach has always talked about the process and we always have to follow the process to our product," he added. "It's great for us we worked really hard for it."
In the bronze-medal matches, Beaverlodge (Alta.) beat the girls from Duchess Park 25-20, 25-20, while the DP Todd Trojans rallied to defeat the Roadrunners in three sets (21-25, 25,21 and 15-9).
The all-stars of the tournament for the boys were: Wayne Woyciehouski, College Heights; Warren Bachand, College Heights; Trevor Zemlak, D.P. Todd; Jordan Thorkelson, Kelly Road; Austin Cromarty, College Heights and Tristen Burridge of North Peace in Fort St. John. Burridge was also the MVP for the Kodiak tournament.
On the girls side, the all-stars were: Houston's Hamblin; the Polars Morris and Brooklynn Seemann.
The senior girls from PGSS are off to Vancouver next weekend for a tournament at UBC, while Houston returns to town for a tournament at Cedar Christian. Duchess Park hosts a boys tournament.
