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TRAIL — It was a fitting end to a showdown between the top two AA senior girls' volleyball teams in the Kootenays last weekend.
Creston's Prince Charles Secondary School, the defending zone champion, and Selkirk Secondary School from Kimberley, the number-10 ranked team in B.C., went the distance in the finale of the Kootenay high school AA championship Saturday afternoon at the J.L. Crowe Gym.
With momentum swinging at every turn, once the dust settled PCSS captured its second consecutive Kootenay zone title with a thrilling 25-23, 25-20, 16-25, 17-25, 15-11 win over Selkirk.
Many fans and probably a few Prince Charles players didn't expect the match to go the full five sets.
After an emotional two-point win in the opening game, the Creston school was one win away from capturing the zone after its 25-20 victory in Game 2.
But Selkirk wasn't ready to fold just yet.
“I didn't think it was going to go to five,” admitted PCSS coach Dianne MacDonald. “I was hoping it wasn't.
“I thought maybe they'd get one and then the momentum shifted. We're a team of emotion with lots of ups and downs.”
The momentum shifted in a hurry as the Kimberley school chalked up two comfortable wins to send the final into a fifth and deciding game.
“There's been quite a few times this season when we've been in pressure situations,” said Selkirk coach Joe Ambrosio.
“And when we were down 2-0 going into the third match I reminded them to reflect on our season and those pressure situations. Don't hit the panic button.”
The final game to 15 points went back-and-forth until a five-point run by PCSS spotted them an 11-4 lead.
But in this game, no lead was safe.
Selkirk battled back and cut the deficit to 14-10 before PCSS's Alicia Perrin, a Team B.C. and national 2010 Prospects Team selection, sealed the win with the final kill.
“It was great to see her come to the front row and put it away for the win,” said MacDonald.
Prince Charles will represent the zone at the provincial championships in Victoria at the beginning of December.
Meanwhile, Selkirk gets one more shot at a provincial berth with a one-game wildcard playoff against the second-place team from the Okanagan regional.
Meanwhile, the host J.L. Crowe Hawks came up just short of third place losing 23-25, 25-15 and 15-13 to Boundary Central out of Grand Forks.
Golden defeated Invermere's David Thompson Secondary to decide fifth place with Castlegar's Stanley Humphries Secondary rounding out the field in seventh.
