The Pen High Lakers kickstarted their Icebreaker senior boys volleyball tournament on a winning note.
The Lakers defeated the Princess Margaret Mustangs in three sets, 25-20, 15-25 and 15-10.
“Any time we can beat our cross-city rivals it feels good,” said Lakers coach Bo Boxall. “They have a lot of size and can finish.”
When it came to how his team performed, Boxall saw lots of rust. He felt his players struggled with positioning and seeing the game.
“That comes with game experience and touching the ball,” he said.
Among the players he felt performed well was captain Nick Everton, Josh Gowe and Jerry Xiang. Everton stepped up and made good passes, to go with a good service run at the end. Gowe came up big blocking the Mustangs attacking attempts and Xiang did a great job as a calming influence. His passing helped create offence.
The Lakers play five more matches in the seven-team tournament that also features Mt. Boucherie, South Okanagan, Vernon, Kelowna Secondary School and George Elliot. The play at 6:20 p.m. against South Okanagan and 7:25 p.m. against Vernon. On Saturday, the Lakers take on Mt. Boucherie at 10:35 a.m. and their final match is at 1:50 p.m. against George Elliot.
