For the second straight weekend the senior girls from Houston Christian clawed their way to volleyball gold in Prince George.
Fresh off a victory over the PGSS Polars in the Kodak Classic the Wildcats escaped with a three-set victory (15-25, 25-21 and 15-10) over the College Heights Cougars in the Cedars Christian tournament, held Saturday at the D.P. Todd gymnasium.
Taylor Kettles, the lone Grade 12 player on the Cougars, said it's still early in the volleyball season and her team will use the loss as a motivating factor in the future.
"It got to our heads a little bit," said Kettles about the strength of the Wildcats. "But we're going to learn from our mistakes. We'll be back."
After a win in the first set, the 17-year-old said, the Wildcats came out with purpose in the second set.
"They were definitely motivated," said Kettles, whose team trailed early, but fought back to tie the match at 21-21 before surrendering the final four points.
In the final set, the Wildcats built a 8-3 advantage, cruising to a 15-10 win.
"It was a tough fight from the beginning," said Kettles. "We knew they were going to come back hard. We did what we could."
Both teams posted 3-0 records in their respective pools, not dropping a set until the gold-medal match. In the semifinals, the Wildcats dispatched the Cedars Eagles, 25-15, 25-12, while the Cougars outlasted crosstown rivals the D.P. Todd Trojans, 25-18, 25-22.
The second set of the semifinal between the Cougars and Trojans was an intense battle as the 2A schools dug deep for every point. The Trojans led 16-13 at one point, but, despite making some unbelievable digs for points, watched as their rivals vaulted to victory.
D.P. Todd carried the momentum into the bronze-medal match with Cedars easily taking the first set 25-13. The Eagles rebounded in the second set with a 25-15 win and led the final set 8-3 at the break.
Tynikka Cadle, captain of the Trojans, said the Trojans buckled down and battled in the second half of the third set, eventually pulling off the 18-16 win.
"We had our serves and we just fought for it," said the 17-year-old.
Cadle said it was their own fault the Eagles were able to force the deciding set.
"The second set shouldn't have been what it was," she said. "We just didn't talk as much. We just didn't have everybody on the court [mentally]."
The Cougars and Eagles are off next weekend, while the Trojans head to Kamloops for the Thompson Rivers University tournament. In two weeks.
