The College Heights Cougars clawed back from an early deficit in the third set to defeat the Duchess Park Condors 3-0 to win the North Central triple-A senior girls volleyball zone championship Saturday night.
Hosted by PGSS, but played on centre court at CNC, the Cougars, up two sets, found themselves trailing 7-3 in the third set of the best-of-five final.
But they put their rally caps on, climbed back to tie the game and eventually won the set 25-21.
College Heights won the first two sets with scores of 26-24 and 25-16.
"The key was our defence stepped up and our mental game carried us through the entire match," said Cougars head coach Jason Olexyn. "That third-set rally is a testament to our mental toughness. It's our perseverance.We've worked very hard on our mental game."
Both the Cougars - who are ranked third in the province, and fourth-ranked Condors, advance to the triple-A provincial championship in Parksville, Nov. 27-29.
College Heights proceeded to Saturday's championship final with a 3-0 semifinal victory (25-22, 26-24, 25-8) against PGSS, while the Condors defeated Correlieu secondary from Quesnel 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-15) in the other semifinal in the seven-team tournament.
Correlieu defeated PGSS in straight sets (25-21, 26-24) for the bronze medal.
After a couple of road trips early in the season, the Cougars chose to stay home and compete in tournaments hosted by their cross-town rivals in Prince George.
Olexyn said the strong calibre of teams in the city and the region, including seventh-ranked Caledonia secondary from Terrace and the D.P. Todd Trojans, the fifth-ranked team in double-A is a bonus.
D.P. Todd beat the Cougars in tournament final earlier in the season.
"There's great competition and we've got the teams in our zone to compete against," said Olexyn.
