The Prince George Kodiaks are ranked 22nd out of 24 teams in the 16-and-under boys Tier 1 club volleyball national championship in Calgary and they know the odds are stacked against them.
The top two teams in each of the six placement pools after the opening day of play Saturday advance to the top division and the Kodiaks have three tough opponents in their pool to try to beat.
One of them is the Seaside Surf of White Rock, the top-ranked team in the province. The Surf has yet to lose a match this year against a B.C. opponent.
"Going to tournaments in the province, we've been ranked in the top-five for the last few years, and this time we're going (to nationals) not expecting to be in that top group,' said 16U boys Kodiaks head coach Jay Guillet. "So there's no pressure on the kids to perform and play this time, but the expectation is still to go out there and do your best performance and whatever you do, leave it on the floor. You can't control what other teams do but just control your own actions."
A medal is obviously a longshot for the Kodiaks, but a win or two on the court at the Olympic Oval in Calgary would help them erase memories of their winless record at last year's national tournament. Ten of the 12 players on this year's team played for that 15U Kodiaks team.
"Last year at nationals (also in Calgary) we played seven matches and we went 0-7 but five of the matches went to three sets, so we have the experience of being there and we know what to expect," said coach Guillet.
"This is an opportunity for these kids to compare their skills with the top kids in Canada. They will come back and know what they have to do to get better."
Carter Karpenko, the starting setter and sometimes left-side hitter, is one of the keys to the Kodiaks' attack this weekend, as are middle blockers, Cody Boulding and Ryan Hampe. Liam Campbell Evan Guillet and Quinten Astorino will also get plenty of courttime this weekend. Hampe was a BC Volleyball all-star at the provincial tournament two weeks ago in Abbotsford.
The Kodiaks' 12-player roster also includes: Alex Edgson, Raymon Dhillion, Max Bast, Adam Halsall, Caleb Plouffe, Quinn Dunphy. Lee Karpenko is the assistant coach.
"For our team to succeed we'll have to have very good transitions and when we get free-ball opportunities, our team is very good when we pass well," said coach Guillet.
"We need to be passing the ball on the mark, and then we are very effective."
Durham, Ontario is the top-ranked 16U boys team. Two Alberta teams, the third-ranked and fifth-ranked teams in their province, are also grouped with the Kodiaks and Seaside. The Kodiaks played Seaside a few weeks ago at a tournament in Kelowna and lost in two straight sets.
"Any tournament they've played in B.C. with the 16s they've won, so they actually played up an older age group tournaments to get experience," said Guillet.
The Kodiaks have their first match of the day today at 7:30 a.m., which means they will have to get up at least two hours ahead of the game to be ready for it. They have three matches today, three on Sunday and at least one in Monday's sudden-death round.
One other Prince George team, the Kodiak 16U Red girls squad coached by Mark LaFleur, Jasen Florell and Erika Morris, is also playing at the national championships in Calgary. Their roster includes Carly Connor, Brooklyn Gess, Amy Hackle, Amanda Heinze, Lilly Marsh, Lauryn Needham, Rebecca Pinko, Annika Schroeter, Cassandra Seib, Brittany Tallman and Mika Tillmanns.
The Prince George girls 17U and 18U teams will also be in action this weekend at the national tournament in Edmonton.
Coached by J.P. Martin and Roland Rempel, the 17U squad includes: Maddisen Brown, Justine Hamilton, Jynessa Kaulback, Ayden Martin, Grace Meehan, Alex Ntapas, Kendra Potskin, Ashleigh Rempel, Kendal Samuelson,Clara Temoin, Nicole Watt, and Mackenzie Van Spengen.
The 18U Kodiaks, coached Kim Forrest, Emmy Blouin, Leigh Thibault and Maddie Dreher, includes Brittany Briere, Katherine Chrobot, Emma Crossan, Carly Davies, Hallie Drezet, Kassidy Flannigan, Jaymie Kwiatkowski, Hailey Kearns, Anika Kolybaba, Brittney Rochon, Megan Warner and Micaela Young.
