High school volleyball zone play downs are three weeks away and the Prince George teams are starting to take their games to a higher level in preparation. Several tournaments were held last weekend in both girls and boys action.
In the senior girls division, the battle between AAA schools is intense as the Duchess Park Condors faced off against the College Heights Cougars in the gold-medal game of the annual Kelly Road Sr. Girls Volleyball Invitational tournament. The Condors fended off the Cougars' attack in straight sets, 25-23, 25-22.
The other triple-A team in Prince George, the Kelly Road Roadrunners, finished fourth when they lost the bronze-medal game to the double-A D.P. Todd Trojans, 25-17, 25-18. The Condors defeated the Roadrunners in straight sets and the Cougars edged the Trojans in three sets in the semifinals.
Fifth place went to the Duchess Park Jr. Condors after they beat Smithers in the consolation round, while the PGSS Polars knocked off the Kelly Road B team for seventh place.
Fort St. James finished ninth after beating Mackenzie, 25-14, 25-18, and Nechako Valley (Vanderhoof) claimed 11th place with a 25-16, 25-19 win over Fort Nelson.
Last week, the Cougars moved up to third place, from fifth, in the triple-A girls provincial rankings. Neither the Condors or Roadrunners were ranked, but Duchess Park has previously been ranked.
This weekend the Trojans host the senior girls, Friday and Saturday, followed by a tournament at PGSS on Nov. 8-9.
The zone championship, featuring the Condors, Cougars, Roadrunners, Dawson Creek and Williams Lake for a berth at the AAA provincial championship, will be played Nov. 14-16 at Duchess Park. The provincial volleyball tournament will be held Nov. 27-29.
Condors take Spooktacular
In junior A boys action, the College Heights Cougars held their annual Halloween "Spooktacular" tournament, which saw the Duchess Park Condors (A) defeat the D.P. Todd Trojans in three sets, 25-22, 21-25 and 18-16 in the championship game.
In the bronze-medal match, the Cougars (A) dropped a three-set match to Charles Hays (Prince Rupert) 16-25, 25-23 and 15-8.
All 12 teams in the tournament selected a team MVP from the weekend. From the Condors A team Jacob Tiani was chosen, while the Trojans named Cameron Cain as their top player. Other players were: Logan Drader (McBride), Daniel Repko (Fort St. James), Brayden McLeod (Fort Nelson), Liam Campbell (Kelly Road), Justin McChesney (Charles Hays), Carter Karpenko (Duchess Park B), Pierce Obrycki (PGSS), Tanner Crichton (Cedars), Nick Hansen (CHSS A) and Nathan Provan (CHSS B).
Eagles soar to second
The Cedars Christian Eagles senior girls were second in the single-A volleyball girls rankings last week, sandwiched between top-ranked Kelowna Christian and third-ranked Immaculata (Kelowna). The Eagles participated in a tournament in the Fraser Valley last weekend where they finished eighth. The single-A girls zone tournament will be held in Chetwynd.
Three Prince George teams made rankings list last week in the senior boys double-A division. The Duchess Park Condors moved up to seventh place from ninth, while the D.P. Todd Trojans were in eighth spot. The College Heights Cougars received an honourable mention.
Halloween Havoc at CHSS
This weekend is the College Heights Cougars Jr. B and Grade 8 boys volleyball Halloween Havoc invitational tournament with games starting Friday, 3:45 p.m. and the championship matches scheduled for Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
There are six junior B teams entered - Cedars, Duchess Park B, College Heights B, Quesnel Junior B, Duchess Park A and Kelly Road - and five team in the Grade 8 tournament - CHSS, D.P. Todd, Duchess Park 1, Fort St. James and Duchess Park 2.
