In the double-A division, the Duchess Park Condors are now No. 1 in B.C.
The Condors senior boys volleyball team ascended to the top of the provincial list after a third-place finish at last weekend's Best of the West tournament in Kelowna. At the 37-team event, Duchess finished behind only Fraser Heights of Surrey -- ranked No. 1 in the triple-A category -- and Harry Ainlay of Edmonton, the top-seeded quadruple-A team in Alberta.
For bronze, the Condors defeated the Kelowna Owls, who entered the tournament sixth in B.C. in triple-A.
"We played really well," said Condors coach Keith Wood. "We got to play against some pretty high-calibre teams that are basically in a different league than we are. We're double-A and we got to play Harry Ainlay and Fraser Heights. That helped us because it exposed some things that we definitely need to improve on."
The Condors faced Harry Ainlay in preliminary play and then met Fraser Heights in the playoff semifinals.
In the double-A rankings, Duchess moved up from third spot. Former No. 1 Langley Christian slipped to third and MEI of Abbotsford remained at No. 2.
While pleased with taking over the top position in the province., Wood is keeping the Condors' accomplishment in perspective.
"It's a ranking and it can't change anything," he said. "We still have to train the same way and strengthen the things that we need improvement on."
Two Grade 12 members of the Condors, power hitter David Robertson and setter Sam Yurkowski, were chosen as Best of the West all-stars.
"David is always a go-to guy that puts the ball away, and Sam's been working hard on moving the ball around a lot more -- becoming a lot more unpredictable in his offence, which is huge," Wood said. "He did that so well."
Last season, the Condors placed fourth at the double-A provincial championship tournament and they lost only two key members of that team to graduation. This year's B.C. tournament is Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 in Kelowna.
The Condors weren't the only Prince George team that climbed in the provincial double-A rankings after the Best of the West tournament. The College Heights Cougars, who lost just one match and finished as Black Division champions (17th overall), leaped from 10th to fifth. In Kelowna, they defeated a pair of teams that had been ranked higher than them, Revelstoke and George Elliot of Winfield. Revelstoke started the Best of the West at No. 5 and George Elliot was No. 6.
The Condors and Cougars are playing in a senior boys tournament at Kelly Road this weekend. Today's championship final is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
