So far this season, the College Heights Cougars have entered two tournaments and won two tournaments. With their home event next on the schedule, they'd love to go three-for-three.
The Cougars senior boys volleyball team is hosting the Jon Bragg Memorial, which starts tonight and wraps up Saturday night at the College Heights gym. The Cougars - fourth in the provincial double-A rankings - will be favoured to win but may be challenged by the eighth-ranked Duchess Park Condors.
Two weekends ago, College Heights took top spot at the Kodiak Classic, a gathering in which Duchess was fourth. Last weekend, the Cougars beat the Condors in a tournament final at Duchess.
"I thought Duchess Park did some much better things than they did the previous weekend (at the Kodiak Classic) but our boys played pretty steady," said Cougars coach Jay Guillet. "We were working on some different systems, putting players in different positions and switching things up, so I think we've adapted well but we're going to continue to improve for down the road when we head out of town."
Other teams that could contend for the Jon Bragg title include Centennial of Terrace, which is hosting this season's single-A provincial championship tournament, and Bulkley Valley Christian of Smithers.
College Heights, Duchess Park, Centennial, Bulkley Valley and the D.P. Todd Trojans are grouped together in a power pool, while the other side of the draw features the College Heights juniors, PGSS, Cedars Christian School and Kelly Road, which has a mixed senior/junior squad.
The tournament begins tonight at 7. Matches will resume at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and will continue through Saturday. The championship final is set for 6 p.m.
The Cougars are the defending Jon Bragg champions and have their eyes on the prize again.
"Any time you're playing at your home school, you want to play well," Guillet said. "We want to defend the title and continue on with what we're doing and the success we're having."
Guillet said the Cougars' level of experience is proving to be a major asset.
"The boys, some of them have been together since elementary school," he said. "They've played throughout high school, they've played on Summer Games teams together, club teams together, and many of them have had provincial-team experience. And, in general, the kids have a passion and a love for volleyball."
Team members are Jared Apolczer, Quinten Astorino, Jonah Gilbert, Evan Guillet, Nick Hansen, Nehemiah Ohori, Nathan Provan, Ben Shand, Aiden Smith, Nigel Thompson and Graham Walkey.
