It was a two-peat for the College Heights Cougars senior boys volleyball team as they held off a strong Duchess Park Condors attack to defend their double-A North Central zone title.
It was a rowdy environment at CHSS as both teams had a loud support system for Saturday's final, but Cougars' coach Jay Guillet pointed out the home side had their own version of a lucky loonie on their side.
"Todd Patterson, Jordan's dad, he put a little thing, our own superstition on the volleyball," said Guillet about the small CHSS lettering written onto the game ball.
The extra luck, powered the Cougars to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18 and 25-21) victory. Despite the loss, the Condors will join CHSS at the provincial championship in Kelowna from Dec. 1 to 3. Two berths are available due to the strength of the zone -- last season the D.P. Todd Trojans joined the Cougars at the B.C. championship.
The Trojans, ranked 10th in the province, won the bronze medal beating the Chetwynd Cavaliers 3-0 (25-11, 25-12 and 26-24). The Cougars and Condors were the third- and fourth-ranked teams prior to the zone weekend.
The opening set Saturday was a dogfight as both the Cougars and Condors played exceptional volleyball, giving the crowd plenty to cheer for.
"That first set was dynamite," said Guillet.
The second set was shaping up as another barn burner until the Cougars pulled away, momentum, the roar of the crowd and their own energy, draining on the Condors.
"I think we went on a role there in the second set when Tanner [Wheeler] was serving," said Guillet. "We got that lead and it's tough to comeback. I think what it was is maintaining a certain level of play. We played more steady than Duchess. Duchess had more dips and valleys.
Wheeler, Cougars' power hitter, said the service games was the key to success.
"We didn't make any mistakes on our service game," said Wheeler. "We served the ball well and they just started making mistakes and we fed off that."
In the third set, the Cougars took a 17-8 lead but Duchess Park clawed back when Lon Kerr, one of two Grade 12s on the Condors, began to serve.
"[The goal was to] just serve the ball and get it in the court and keep it away from Tanner because he's the best passer and just keep going one point at a time," said Kerr. "It's that mental focus we've got to keep."
The Condors were able to catch CHSS when they had already adjusted their mindsets to neutral and were able to crawl back into the set and make it close.
"We were looking to go into provincials swinging hard," said Kerr. "We didn't want to roll over like we've done in the past. I'm really glad in the third set we were able to come back and push harder. We maybe just need a little bit of a break halfway through the second one."
Both Prince George schools should be ranked in the top power pool for the provincial championship in Kelwona, Dec. 1 to 3, and if they play like they did in the first set they could bring home at least one medal, perhaps two.
"The potential's there, but that's another weekend," said Guillet. "I say that everyone is number one until you beat them. There's a lot of things you've got to be focused on to have success."
2011 AA senior boys zone all-stars, award winners
GOLD - College Heights Cougars
SILVER - Duchess Park Condors
BRONZE - D.P. Todd Trojans
4th place - Chetwynd Cavaliers
All-star selections:
Wayne Woyciehouski, CHSS Cougars
Austin Cromarty, CHSS Cougars
Lon Kerr, DPSS Condors
Sam Yurkowski, DPSS Condors
Trevor Zemlak, D.P. Todd Trojans
Caleb Larsen, Chetwynd Cavaliers
Most Outstanding Player:
Warren Bachand, CHSS Cougars
Libero Award:
Jordan Patterson, CHSS Cougars
Unsung here/inspirational player:
Brett Bobier, CHSS Cougars
Most Sportsmanlike team:
Duchess Park Condors
