Mount Sentinel sets lofty goals for B.C. High School A Girls Volleyball Championships
By The Nelson Daily Sports
By Bruce Fuhr, The Nelson Daily Sports
Are you ready for some volleyball?
The Mount Sentinel Wildcats had better be ready to bring their A-game to the B.C. north or else.
Because the head coach is not at all keen to watch from the sidelines when the Cats begin play at the B.C. High School A Girl’s Volleyball Championships beginning Thursday in Prince George.
‘Happy to be at the provincials better not be our goal,” said Mount Sentinel coach Joe Moreira an emphatically.
“I have made this very clear during our preparation,” Moreira added.
“We are not going to PG, spend $4000 to watch other teams compete.
“While we can acknowledge that we are young and had to work very hard to advance from our zone, we now need to re-set our goals and mean it. I don’t think we are ready to beat the top 4 teams, but after that we must be prepared to grovel for every point.”
Mount Sentinel embarks on the marathon road trip Tuesday, traveling to Kamloops during day one of the trek.
Wednesday the Cats complete the 15-plus-hour trip to Prince George in preparation of Thursday’s opening round games.
The Cats, seeded 11th in the tournament, open up against tenth-ranked Houston Christian.
Mount Sentinel then meets ninth ranked Cedar of Vancouver Island before concluding the power-pool draw against 12th Ebenezer of Smithers.
Teams then enter the playoff round Friday before the medal round games Saturday.
“We are not going to intimidate anyone with thundering kills, but our ball control often substitutes for power,” said Moreira when asked about the secret to the Cats success.
“There is no mystery to what this team needs from every player to be successful; sustained ball control and tough serving.”
Mount Sentinel enters the tourney with a young team of players.
Still Moreira believes a quarterfinal date is not out of the question for the Cats.
“Yes, it is realistic, but it will require more than just showing up in a Mount Sentinel uniform,” he said.
Kootenay top seed Golden, the team lost to in the zone final, enters the tourney ranked second in the 16-team field.
Elkford, the third team from the Kootenays, is ranked 15th.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
