Their opponent was on a serious roll. With a zone title going to the winner, the College Heights Cougars knocked the D.P. Todd Trojans out of sync.
In a best-of-five senior boys volleyball match Saturday afternoon at Duchess Park secondary, the Cougars used a diverse attack and defensive determination to beat the Trojans 25-21, 25-16, 25-18. The victory gave the Cougars the double-A zone championship and sent them to provincials, Dec. 1-4 in Kelowna.
Earlier Saturday, in a preliminary match, D.P. Todd dumped College Heights 25-22, 25-20.
In their previous tournament, Nov. 12-13 in Kamloops, the Trojans handily beat the No. 5 double-A club in the province and the No. 5 triple-A squad and then went a full three sets with the top-ranked double-A team. Those results vaulted the Trojans from No. 10 to No. 5 on the B.C. double-A list.
The Cougars, who have been as high as fourth in the province this season, were razor-sharp in Saturday's championship. When they had chances to finish plays, they did. And, on defence, they played with an intensity the Trojans couldn't match.
"It feels great," said Wayne Woyciehouski, a Grade 11 middle blocker who was a force in the final and was later picked as a tournament all-star. "This is something we've practiced all year for. We worked really hard and we got it in three.
"We had really good passes from the back row and our setter (fellow all-star Warren Bachand) was running the middle attack. We were forcing it and also going outside. People were putting balls away and it worked to our advantage."
