History will be made starting today at the junior boys provincial volleyball championship when the College Heights Cougars A and B teams walk out on the court in Kelowna.
That's never happened before and it's all because the junior B Cougars turned it on at the zone tournament two weekends ago at Duchess Park gym. The junior B squad defeated North Peace in the semifinal round, making it an all-College Heights final against the Cougars A team.
"That was a great turnout for the junior B team, they pulled off a couple of great sets [to advance to the final]," said Cougars A head coach Ryan Thibault, whose team swept the B squad in three straight sets. "They're definitely a strong team and well coached. To win a semifinal game and get into the final at zones, that's fantastic for them."
All but one of the 12 players on the Cougars A team are Grade 10 students, while the B team consists mostly of Grade 8 and 9 players. College Heights A is ranked eighth in the province out of 24 teams.
"We're strong at each position, there's a lot of depth on the team," said Thibault. "It's nice to be able to call on anyone in any game and they will be able to perform. It's crazy but we have confidence in each player to get the job done. It's great for practice and great for game play that guys are eager to get in there and play."
The Cougars A team offence revolves around setter Graham Walkey, who has a multitude of capable finishers to feed passes to, including right side hitter Ben Shand, middle blockers Jonah Gilbert, Hunter Posteraro, and Nathan Provan, and power hitters Nigel Thompson, Jared Apolczer, Fintan Daly, Christian Snider, and Josh Gillen. Thibault says libero Nick Hansen is carving out a niche as one of the city's top young defensive players. Evan Guillet, son of longtime College Heights/Duchess Park senior boys volleyball coach Jay Guillet, will back up Shand at setter.
Thibault is a College Heights graduate, as are Cougars A assistant coaches Colin Wilson and Trayl Plouffe.
College Heights A is grouped in Pool E with Walnut Grove, George Elliot and Saint Ann's, while the College Heights B team in in Pool B with Pacific Academy, Clairemont and Constable Neil Bruce of West Kelowna. College Heights A plays its first match today 11 a.m. against Saint Ann's, while College Heights B begins against Pacific Academy today at 10 a.m.
Two other Prince George teams -- the Duchess Park Condors and D.P. Todd Trojans -- also qualified for the 24-team provincial tournament. The Condors play Delta in their first match today at 10 a.m., while the Trojans take on Prince of Wales, starting at 11 a.m.
Each team will play three matches land all teams advance to the playoff round on Friday. Semifinals will be played Saturday at 11:30 a.m., with the medal matches set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
