The PGSS Polars were almost perfect.
The local senior girls volleyball team played to a 7-0 match record on the way to a championship at a Thompson Rivers University tournament this past weekend in Kamloops. In Saturday's final, PGSS downed Little Flower Academy of Vancouver 25-22, 14-25, 15-9. The loss in the second set was the only blemish on the Polars' record.
"The second set, the girls struggled quite a bit and we fell behind and just couldn't catch up," said PGSS coach Allan Tong. "But the third set, the girls played with a different frame of mind. They wanted to win that third set and it showed in the final score. Overall, we'd like the girls to be a little more consistent throughout all three sets but they played really well whenever it counted."
In the semifinal round, the Polars beat W.L. Seaton of Vernon 25-9, 25-14. In the quarters, PGSS met the D.P. Todd Trojans of Prince George and won 25-23, 25-13. The Polars opened the playoff round with a victory over Sa-Hali of Kamloops, 25-21, 25-22.
Earlier, in pool play, PGSS picked up wins against Grand Forks (25-10, 25-16), Westsyde of Kamloops (25-5, 25-14) and Kelowna's Aberdeen Hall (25-18, 25-18).
While no all-stars were chosen, standout players for the Polars included setter Micaela Young, power hitters Kendal Samuelson and Nicole Watt and middle blocker Kendra Potskin.
Other team members are Kaitlin Earl, Amy Hackle, Brittany Tallman, Amanda Heinze, Emma Boldt, Rebecca Pinko, Emma Crossan and Alex Ntapas. Tong is assisted by Karin Young, Alisha Carlson and Sydney Thorne.
The Polars started their season with a second-place finish at the Kodiak Classic, Sept. 16-17 in Prince George. In that final, they fell in two sets to the Duchess Park Condors, a team they had beaten earlier in the tournament. At TRU, the Polars were sharper in their execution.
"We were better with our passing, and our serving was an area that really improved," Tong said. "And I would say our coverage for our hitters was better. We just wanted the games a little more this weekend."
In the TRU tournament, the Trojans and Condors both won their round-robin pools before falling short later on. While the Trojans suffered defeat at the hands of the Polars in the quarterfinals, the Condors dropped their first match of the playoffs to Kelowna Christian and were sent to the consolation side of the draw.
In local volleyball action from the weekend, the College Heights Cougars won a senior girls tournament hosted by Cedars Christian School. In senior boys play, the Cougars topped host Duchess Park in the final of that tournament.
Kelly Road hosts a senior girls event this weekend, while College Heights will be the site of the annual Jon Bragg Memorial senior boys tournament.
