The Duchess Park Condors have designs on winning a provincial championship in December. They'll find out how good they really are when they step on the court in Kelowna this weekend.
Today and Saturday, the local senior boys volleyball team will compete in the KSS/UBCO Best of the West tournament. The Condors enter the 37-team event ranked third in the province at the double-A level. Top-seeded Langley Christian and second-ranked MEI won't be present but several other elite teams will be, including Langley Fundamental, Revelstoke and George Elliot, which are fourth through sixth on the provincial double-A list. Okanagan Mission, No. 9 in B.C., will be in action as well.
Some of the top triple-A and single-A teams will also be hitting kill shots at the Best of the West gathering. Fraser Heights, the No. 1 team in the triple-A category, will be in attendance, as will No. 2 Earl Marriott, No. 4 Delta and No. 6 Kelowna. Single-A powers in the tournament include third-ranked Mount Sentinel and sixth-seeded Vernon Christian.
The Condors already have two major tournament titles to their credit this season, the PGYVC Kodiak Classic and the Jon Bragg Memorial. Both those events featured northern-based teams exclusively.
In Kelowna, the Condors are in a pool with Langley Fundamental, Okanagan Mission and Harry Ainlay of Edmonton, which is always a powerhouse.
Two other local teams, the College Heights Cougars and Kelly Road Roadrunners, are also in the Best of the West field. The Cougars, ranked 10th in B.C. at double-A, come in as the defending champions and are in a pool with Holy Trinity, Prince Charles and Clarence Fulton. The Roadrunners, unranked in the triple-A division, are grouped with Mount Sentinel, Semiahmoo and Penticton.
The champion will be decided on Saturday night.
The double-A provincials will be held Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 in Kelowna.
Senior girls gathering at College Heights
College Heights secondary school will host a 10-team senior girls volleyball tournament this weekend. Matches will start at 3:45 p.m. today.
The host College Heights Cougars are in a pool with the Kelly Road Roadrunners, PGSS Polars, Nechako Valley Viqueens and Fort St. James Falcons. The other pool includes the Cedars Christian School Eagles, North Peace Ookapiks, Correlieu Clan, D.P. Todd Trojans and Mackenzie Sabres.
Provincially, the Cougars are ranked sixth in the double-A division and the Eagles are No. 3 in the single-A category.
Play continues on Saturday, with the championship final planned for 5:50 p.m.
