Prince Charles Secondary School senior boys won four of seven matches and reached the consolation final of the 2016 Big Kahuna B.C. volleyball championships.
Playing Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 at the Langley Events Centre, the Comets acquitted themselves well, according to first-year coach Erich Meyer.
“We came into the tournament ranked 10th and we finished 10th as well, right where we should have been,” said Meyer, who shared the bench duties with veteran Mike Nelson. “For me, provincials were a success and a positive way to wrap up the season. I felt like we finally started playing together as a team and it really looked like the boys were having fun.
“We were much more collected as far as our mental game goes and it was nice to see some players start to play consistently at their level of potential.”
PCSS dropped the consolation final on the 16-team tournament’s last day 25-17, 25-18 to Pacific Christian of Victoria, the No. 8 seed.
The Comets began their draw three days earlier with a round-robin against the other teams in their four-team, first-round pool, winning two of the three matches to finish second entering the playoff round.
They started strongly, sweeping Mark Isfeld of Courtenay 25-18, 25-19 and earning a come-from-behind, three-set triumph over Clarence Fulton of Vernon, 24-26, 25-20 and 15-13.
A 25-16, 25-21 loss to Hugh McRoberts of Richmond wrapped up the opening day, setting up an intriguing rematch with George Elliott of Lake Country, the No. 5 seed which had dominated PCSS at a tournament in Kelowna earlier in the season.
The best-of-five championship round tilt went to the higher seed 25-20, 25-20 and 25-21 but was even closer than the respectable scores might indicate. PCSS took a three-point lead early in the first set and was within one as late as 18-19, then was within 20-22 in the second set before dropping the next three points.
The Comets were out in front most of the third set, up to the 17-point mark, before Elliott pulled away.
It was the highlight of the week for Meyer.
“We played them previously this season and had a very weak performance,” he said. “They overpowered us and looked to be on a whole different level.
“This week when we came up against them we competed hard and had a close game with them. We stepped up our level of play for the important match that it was. Although it was a losing effort, it was good to see the team find that new level and grow as a group.”
The result placed PCSS on the consolation side of the draw for the rest of the tournament, which continued later on Day 2 with a 25-15, 25-23 victory over W.L. Seaton of Vernon.
That set up a must-win rematch with Fulton on Day 3 if the team was to play again on the final day.
Although the Comets had downed the Vernon squad twice previously – once at provincials and earlier at a Kelowna tournament – this was no pushover, going three sets at 24-26, 25-15 and 15-11.
Another key takeaway from provincials was the team’s late push in the consolation final against Pacific Christian, which Meyer called their worst of the week.
“It was a morning game, which our team has had trouble with this season,” he said. “On this day we started off having the same problems with finding energy and getting engaged in the activity as we had previously.
“Part-way through the second set the players called a timeout and had a quick players’ meeting. I’m not sure what they said but when they went back out to play they were making their own energy and not relying on the score in the game to give them what they needed.
“Unfortunately it was a little too late but they rallied hard and made it a much closer set than it looked like it would be. This was a big milestone for this team.”
Meyer is already looking ahead to the 2017 season, which will see the majority of players returning. Only Marcus Bell, John Sommerfeld and Jake Dumas are graduating Grade 12s.
“I expect this group to be very competitive next season,” Meyer said.