The College Heights Cougars and Duchess Park Condors got off to great starts at the triple-A girls volleyball provincial championship in Parksville.
Both Prince George teams went undefeated on opening day at the 16-team tournament.
The Cougars, bronze medalists last year, ended the day with a 2-1 (25-20, 23-25, 15-11) win over Vernon. That came after College Heights had defeated Windsor 2-1 (25-20, 22-25, 15-12) and Ballenas 2-1 (22-25, 25-15, 15-8). The Cougars won bronze at the 2013 high school championship, hosted at Duchess Park.
The Condors began their title quest Thursday with a 2-1 (21-25, 25-20, 15-7) triumph
over South Kamloops, then beat Langley Fundamental 2-1 (24-26, 25-15, 15-8) and Seaquam 3-0 (25-18, 25-13).
Now in the round of 16, College Heights will play Caledonia of Terrace in a playoff today at 9 a.m., while Duchess Park is up against Prince of Wales, also at 9 a.m. Winners of those matches move on to the quarterfinal round.
At the double-A girls championship in Nanaimo, the fourth-ranked D.P. Todd Trojans went 2-0 Thursday, defeating Brentwood 2-1 (26-28, 29-27, 15-10) and Smithers 2-0 (25-16, 25-21).
At the single-A girls tournament in Kelowna, the 10th-ranked Cedars Christian Eagles knocked off West Point Grey Academy 2-1 (23-25, 25-22, 17-15 ) in an opening match. The Eagles were also scheduled to play Fernie Thursday afternoon. Scores were not available on the tournament website.
An 0-3 start in seeding matches proved no detriment to the D.P. Todd Trojans.
They returned to the volleyball court with a clean slate Thursday at the double-A boys provincial championship in Langley and won a key playoff match, but came up short in the quarterfinal round.
The Cougars, who clinched the North Central zone championship two weekend ago, returned to their winning ways with a hard-fought 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-16, 25-21) elimination match victory over Pacific Academy. But in the quarterfinals later Thursday, the Trojans were eliminated form title contention, losing in straight sets 3-0 to Mennonite Educational Institute.
The College Heights Cougars also advanced to the quarterfinals, after defeating Selkirk 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-16) in a playoff. The Cougars took on Princess Margaret in a quarterfinal Thursday night. The winner advances to the semifinals today at 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, at the triple-A boys provincial tournament also in Langley, the Prince George Polars lost 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-21) to Seaquam on Thursday to drop down further in the consolation bracket.
