Wildcats go wild in Penticton, edge Vernon to capture tournament title
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Mount Sentinel Wildcats appear to be ready to make a run at the playoffs after capturing the top prize at the Pen-Hi Lakers High School Girl’s Volleyball Tournament Saturday in the South Okanagan City.
The Single-A power kicked butt against higher calibre teams throughout the tourney, finishing the day off by edging Vernon Panthers 29-27, 25-22 in the championship final.
The Panthers are ranked third at the Triple-A girls division.
“We were very consistent throughout the weekend,” said Sentinel coach Joe Moreira.
“I think the mark of a Grade 12 team. Clearly with only a few events before provincials this type of play is very encouraging.”
Moreira said the scores were not indicative of how much the Cats dominated Vernon in the final.
The only drama in the match was the poor start the Cats got out to, down 8-1 and not looking very much like a championship side.
Once the Wildcats got back into the match, the Kootenay squad took over.
Mount Sentinel advanced to the final with a thrilling three-set win over Kelowna Secondary School Owls.
The third-ranked 4A team should have swept the floor with the Cats, but Sentinel had other plans winning 25-18, 22-25, 15-12.
“I suspect that this match is to date one of highlights of our season,” Moreira explained.
“The match was well played and it was clear that we weren’t interested in “just avoiding embarrassment” . . . we were playing to win.”
Mount Sentinel opened the day with a 25-18, 25-17 win over West Van in quarterfinal playoff action.
The Cats finished the round robin Friday with a 2-1 record after scoring wins over Rutland and Similkameen Sparks of Keremeos.
The lone setback came in a 2-1 loss to a highly talented Pen Hi squad.
Mount Sentinel travels to Kimberley this weekend to play in the Selkirk Storm Invitational tourney.
The squad is off the following weekend before hosting the Kootenay Finals November 16-17 at Castlegar’s Selkirk College Gymnasium.
At the end of the month, the same Selkirk location, along with the gym at L.V. Rogers in Nelson, will be part of the B.C. High School A Girl’s Volleyball Championships.
Sixteen teams from throughout the province will be vying for the B.C. Single A title from November 28 to December 1.
