It was the match neither team wanted to be playing, but there was no shortage of motivation for either the Duchess Park Condors or College Heights Cougars.
After both senior boys squads saw their chances of winning the 16-team B.C. double-A boys provincial volleyball championship end the previous night when they lost their semifinal matches, there was still a medal to be decided Saturday afternoon in Langley.
Backed by some strong team serving, a steady passing attack orchestrated by Carter Karpenko, and the 1-2 punch at the net from provincial all-stars Cody Boulding and Ryan Hampe, the Condors caged the Cougars in straight sets, winning the bronze-medal match 25-11, 25-22, 25-14.
“When we did well against them previously it was because we were serving them tough and the biggest challenge for us was just to stay focused,” said Condors assistant coach Dan Drezet.
“Guys were obviously motivated, they wanted to have a provincial medal, but having played them so many times it was a bit of a challenge to stay focused at times. They gave us a good fight in that second set and we kind of took over in the third.”
The Condors did not lose a match all season to College Heights.
“They served well and kept our passing at bay and we weren’t able to run a full offensive attack,” said Cougars head coach Jay Guillet. “It makes a big difference when you can pass in a system and have more options.”
The Condors’ title hopes ended with a four-set (28-26, 25-20, 25-27, 25-21) semifinal loss to Langley Christian. It was the second time in the tournament the Lightning beat the Condors and third time in three matches this season.
“They were definitely the class of the tournament and undoubtedly had the best player in the province,” said Drezet, referring to Lightning left side hitter Brodie Hofer, a Trinity Western University recruit for next season. “They had a lot of depth as well.
“Every time we played them we got little bit better. In that first set we missed five serves and were on the net at least two or three times, and if we had won that first set it would have been a different ball game. We had them pretty frustrated in the third set and even in the fourth set, but we gave them way too big of a lead.”
Langley Christian swept Abbotsford Christian for gold Saturday, winning a second-straight championship 25-17, 25-15, 25-22.
The Condors roster included eight Grade 12 seniors – Hampe, Boulding, Karpenko, Matt Kuc, Quinn Dunphy, Bruce Yu, Malcolm MacDonald and Max Bast.
“Ryan and Cody obviously stood out, they’re big tall guys but definitely all of our Grade 12s were strong for us and played a big part,” sad Drezet.
College Heights, a team of predominantly Grade 11 players, pulled off a big upset in the quarterfinal round, defeating No. 2-seeded George Elliot of Lake Country before losing their semifinal to No. 4 Abbotsford Christian 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-18, 25-18). Last year the Cougars took home silver after losing in four sets in the final to Langley Christian.
In the wake of his last match at the helm of the College Heights senior boys, Guillet was justifiable proud of his team’s strong finish.
“We went in there ranked eighth in the province and we moved up to fourth place,” said Guillet. “We had a phenomenal match against George Elliot and even in our semifinal against Abby Christian, we played quite well. Their coach said they had probably one of their best matches of the provincials to beat us.
“We’ve played Duchess Park a number of times and they know how we play and we know how they play but we didn’t match up well against them today.”
Cougars Matthew Shand and Nolan Minck were picked as tournament all-stars. The Cougars also won the most sportsmanlike team award.
Drezet said the lack of competition in the north central zone and the isolation of being located a full day’s drive away from the province’s population centres were determining factors in the provincial tournament. It took the Condors a day to get used to playing at that level. But Drezet says having two Prince George teams playing for medals in the end, says a lot about the strength of high school volleyball in the area.
“I don’t think Prince George, including College Heights, gets the respect we deserve across the province a lot of times,” said Drezet, an assistant to head coach Colin Carson. “This has been pretty steady – every year there’s a Prince George team in the final or the top four and this year we had two in the top four and that says a lot about how good the athletes are and how good the coaches are doing in P.G.”
Meanwhile in Vancouver at the triple A girls provincial championship, the Kelly Road Roadrunners, coached by Erika Morris and Mackenzie Bouchard, lost 2-0 (25-17, 25-21) to the Langley Saints in the ninth-place playoff Saturday. Crofton House of Vancouver posted a three-set win over Timberline of Campbell River in the championship match Saturday.
In the girls double-A provincial championship in Vanderhoof, the College Heights Cougars, coached by Jason Olexyn, defeated Brentwood of Victoria in straight sets (25-23, 25-19) to finish 11th. Langley Christian beat St. Thomas More of Burnaby in the gold-medal match.
