They have entered seven tournaments this season and have won six of them. If the College Heights Cougars add another title to their collection this weekend, they'll give themselves a shot at the biggest prize of all -- a provincial banner.
The Cougars senior girls volleyball team will be the favourite to win the north central zone championship tournament, set for Friday and Saturday at College Heights. If the Cougars do top the five-team field, they'll qualify for the double-A provincials, Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 in Invermere.
The Cougars are coached by Jason Olexyn, who already has three B.C. championships to his credit. Earlier in his career, he was the sideline boss of the Duchess Park Condors and led them to B.C. triple-A titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
And in Olexyn's view, the current Cougars have some of the same qualities as those powerhouse Duchess Park teams.
"We're on a tear and it's pretty fun to be a part of," said Olexyn, whose Cougars claimed gold at the PGSS Polars Invitational last Saturday night. "We're a strong team. I'm looking back at my provincial championship teams and we're right up there with them."
The Cougars are currently ranked sixth in the provincial double-A division. At zones, they'll take on the D.P. Todd Trojans, Nechako Valley Viqueens, Williams Lake Thunder and Fort Nelson Huskies. Play starts Friday at 2:30 p.m., with the Cougars and Trojans doing battle. The championship final, a best-of-five match, is set for Saturday at 4:40 p.m.
To date, the only tournament the Cougars have failed to win was a 40-team gathering at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna. There, they placed fifth.
In the final match of the Polars Invitational, College Heights defeated the Cedars Christian School Eagles 25-23, 27-25. The Eagles are a quality team themselves. In the provincial single-A category, they have been ranked as high as No. 2 and are currently fourth. However, the experience of the Cougars was the difference in Saturday's meeting between the clubs.
"We're older and wiser, so to speak," Olexyn said. "I think they've got a lot of Grade 11s, where the majority of our players are Grade 12. Given that extra year of confidence and experience, I think that's what enabled us to pull off the victory."
This season, the Cougars have been powered offensively by players like power hitter Morgan Samuelson and middle blocker Mercedes Minck. But, at PGSS, right side hitter Michelle Warren was chosen as the team's most valuable player.
"She is one of the most underrated players on the team," Olexyn said of the Grade 12 Warren.
"It was good to see Michelle step up. She's a really steady player and definitely deserved the MVP for our team this weekend."
Right now, the Cougars are playing better than they have all year and that should bode well for them as they try to clinch a provincial berth this weekend.
"We've improved so much over the course of the season that it's pretty scary," Olexyn said.
"We've moved on to different plays and different skills that only certain teams can achieve and we're running these plays successfully on a regular basis. We have that deception under our belt."
Other members of the Cougars are Amy Mellquist, Levi Meyer, Gabby Rainbacher,
Quinn Cassie, Annissa Fielding, Danika Kettles, Vittoria Toninato, Courteney Crellin and Dayna Hamilton. Assistant coaches are Krista Gutknecht and Taylor Kettles.
At the PGSS tournament, the Duchess Park Condors beat the Correlieu Clan of Quesnel 25-22, 25-22 for bronze.
