Kodiaks Red is a year older and a year wiser.
The 14-and-under boys team from the Prince George Youth Volleyball Club won the division 2 title at the Volleyball B.C. provincial championships in 2013. This weekend, the squad is returning to the provincial court in Abbotsford, this time competing in division 1.
"Last year they won the Tier 2 title and this is the first time they're competing in Tier 1," said PGYVC president Dan Drezet. "They have the same coaches, they're looking for a good result."
Division 1 is divided into four pools of four teams in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the playoffs and compete in a cross-over format.
Kodiaks Red isn't the only PGYVC 14U squad that's taking its attack to provincials. Another boys team, Kodiaks Hallie, is competing in division 2.
That division includes 13 teams divided into two pools of four and one pool of five.
"The second team are Grade 7s, while the Kodiaks Red are older and in Grade 8," said Drezet. "They should both do really well."
The 14U squads are among five other PGYVC teams that will be in Abbotsford this weekend.
Kodiaks Red and Kodiaks Black, which are 14U girls teams, are in division 2 and division 3 respectively. Both divisions feature 16 sides divided into four pools of four teams in a round-robin format.
"They're two equal teams and with half a dozen Grade 7s we opted to train them as a group," said Drezet. "They've been training together for the whole year."
The 17U Kodiaks girls side will volley for a top-finish in division 1 and will be among 22 teams divided into four pools of four and two pools of three.
"They've had two pretty good tournaments this year," said Drezet. "They were fifth at Fraser Valley's tournament in Langley in early March and in late March they were seventh in Kelowna and had some strong matches. They have a legitimate shot [at a medal]."
The 18U girls are also competing in division 1 - the 24 squads are split equally into six pools of four.
The team features two Grade 12 players who will take their games to the CIS and college levels next season. Kristin Anton will suit up for the Trinity Western Spartans in 2014-15, while Danica Kettles is travelling to northwestern Alberta to compete for the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves.
"It's a rebuilding year for them and it's a tough division [at provincials]," said Drezet. "They were 13th at their first tournament and 10th in their last tournament."
The Kodiaks 18U boys will compete in the lone 17U/18U division in Abbotsford. They'll be among 21 teams divided into four pools of four and one pool of five.
With only a small number of 18U players that were outnumbered by a group of 17U players, the Kodiaks merged into one team.
"They'll finish somewhere in the top-10," said Drezet.
The Kodiaks opposition includes the usual suspects, namely BCO from North Vancouver, the Coquitlam Ducks, and Okanagan club teams from Kelowna, Kamloops and Vernon, as well as the Force from Surrey.
The Kodiaks 15U and 16U boys and girls teams will compete at provincials in Abbotsford May 2-4.
In all, 13 of the Kodiaks 39 teams qualified for provincial tournaments.
