The College Heights Cougars lost their first match but then reeled off three straight victories to win their own Jon Bragg Memorial senior boys volleyball tournament Saturday.
It took the Cougars five sets to beat their cross-town double-A high school rivals, the D.P. Todd Trojans, in the final of the eight-team tournament. Scores were 14-25, 25-15, 18-25, 28-26, 15-12.
"I'm happy with the way they played, we were working on stuff throughout and we still came through [with the win] which is good to see," said CHSS head coach Linden Smith. "We have the potential to meet up with D.P. Todd in zones, we're that close in double-A."
The two sides first met Friday morning in pool play as the Trojans posted a 2-0 victory (25-22, 25-21).
The Trojans advanced to defeat Kelly Road in the quarter-finals 3-0 (25-8, 25-18, 25-14) and Duchess Park in the semifinals 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-15).
After the round-robin loss, the Cougars regrouped to beat College Heights 3 in straight sets (25-12, 25-17, 25-19) in the quarter-finals and the CHSS junior boys squad (College Heights 2) in the semis 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 26-24, 25-19).
College Heights 2 won the bronze medal with a 3-2 set victory over Duchess Park.
D.P. Todd 2 finished fifth overall when it defeated College Heights 3 in three-straight sets.
PGSS was seventh, followed by Kelly Road in eighth.
All-stars from the tournament included: Colin Appleby (CHSS senior boys); Joel Molcak (D.P. Todd 1), Ben Shand (CHSS 2 - junior boys); Noah Matyas (Duchess Park); Cameron Cain (D.P. Todd 2); Matt Shipmaker (CHSS 3), Dharl Cassidy (PGSS), and Liam Campbell (Kelly Road).
The Cougars' senior boys' lineup is a mostly veteran roster with nine Grade 12s, two Grade 11s and one Grade 10.
Among the key Grade 12 players are: setter Jared Pritchard, a senior who was the MVP of the double-A zone championships a year ago; libero Brady Patterson, who was named a zone MVP last year; middle Eric Murphy, who was named an all-star at the 2013 zone championships; and captain Colin Appleby, a power-hitter.
"We have an on and off starting six but those four are the main elements of our team," said Smith. "We're a defensive team and not especially huge. Brady spent time as a libero with Team B.C. this summer so we're very good. We never give up on a ball."
The Cougars are in Kelowna this weekend for the 48-team Best of the West tournament. They'll also play in Kelowna Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. They're competing at Duchess Park's tournament Nov. 7-8, prior to hosting the double-A zone championships Nov. 15-16.
