The College Heights Cougars successfully defended their home court.
In the final of the CHSS Senior Girls Invitational volleyball tournament, held Saturday afternoon, the Cougars defeated the PGSS Polars in straight sets. Earlier, during round-robin play, they had fallen to the Polars in three. In that match, the Cougars won the first set but weren't nearly as sharp in the last two.
"We maintained a consistent level of play in the final that we didn't have in the round robin," said College Heights coach Jason Olexyn. "And when I say consistency, it comes down to everything - passing and hitting and all that. When we play at our best, we're a pretty good team. But when we do what we call the roller coaster ride, up and down, on any given day anyone can beat us."
The tournament was planned as a seven-team event but turned into a five-team affair when the Nechako Valley (Vanderhoof) and Fort St. James squads stayed home because of poor road conditions. The Cougars went 3-1 in round robin and the Polars were perfect at 4-0.
In the semifinal round, College Heights downed the D.P. Todd Trojans while PGSS defeated the Kelly Road Roadrunners.
The previous weekend, the Cougars placed fifth at the 44-team UBC Okanagan Heat tournament in Kelowna so they're on a roll right now. In the most recent set of provincial rankings, they were sixth on the double-A list. The Polars, meanwhile, sat seventh in the triple-A category.
"We're a well-rounded team and any lineup I put out seems to be competitive with any team out there," said Olexyn, who has five Grade 10 players on his roster - power hitter/libero Emily MacDonald, power hitter Reeyse Desmarais, right-side hitter Alysha Madsen, middle blocker Rachel Kidd and setter Brooke Eberherr.
"At any given moment I can put my Grade 10s out and they're competitive so that's reassuring," Olexyn added.
The Cougars are off this weekend but will get back in the swing at a Duchess Park tournament on Oct. 28-29.
The College Heights senior boys volleyball team finished tied for third at a major tournament in Kelowna last weekend.
At the 40-team Best of the West gathering, the Cougars advanced all the way to the playoff semifinal round but lost 25-22, 17-25, 15-12 to MEI of Abbotsford. There was no bronze-medal match, so College Heights and Kelowna secondary school - the other semifinal loser - were awarded third place.
In the final, Pacific Academy of Surrey - which College Heights beat 25-22, 25-23 in its last match of pool play - topped MEI.
Overall, the Cougars posted a 4-2 match record. In their other pool-play results, they lost 22-25, 25-22, 17-15 to Winfield's George Elliot and defeated Mount Boucherie of Kelowna 25-21, 25-18.
In the first round of playoffs, College Heights beat Earl Marriott of Surrey 25-19, 25-17 and, in the quarterfinals, downed McRoberts of Richmond 25-14, 25-22.
Graham Walkey, a Grade 12 setter for the Cougars, was chosen as a tournament all-star.
In another example of the strength of the College Heights volleyball program this season, the school's junior B girls team grabbed gold at a Cedars Christian School tournament. In Saturday's final, the Cougars defeated the host Eagles 25-18, 25-23.
Members of the Cougars are Camryn Douglass, Morgan Holyk, Sareena Khatrao, Alysa Landucci, Cailyn Loveway, Alexa Martin, Emily Motley, Lauryn Nash, Kendra Nicholson, Jasmine Polajzar, Taylor Salton, Emily Smith and Brooklyn Stauffer. The team is coached by Kathryn Chrobot and Damara Collister.
