The Summerland Rockets first series victory over the Princess Margaret Mustangs came at a critical point in the senior boys’ high school volleyball season.
The Rockets’ best-of-three, straight series win happened Wednesday at Maggie, giving the visitors the South Zone Championship and a berth in the Valley Championships at George Elliott Secondary in Lake Country Nov. 16 and 17.
The Mustangs, ranked in the top 10 in the province for much of the season, will also be competing in that event.
In Wednesday’s first game, the Mustangs jumped into an early 6-0 lead, catching their opponents flat-footed, however, the Rockets came back, eventually securing a 26-24 win.
Related: Mustangs senior boys volleyball hits the floor
“We’ve played Maggie pretty well over our last couple of meetings often leading individual matches then letting them slip away in the end,” said Rockets coach Kevin Lodermeier. “These changes, along with keeping the boys focused on small goals and staying aggressive within each game rather than getting overwhelmed with the big picture variables around the entire match made a big difference.
“Although, our boys are just starting to realize their potential, they haven’t reached it yet.”
Related: Penticton’s Maggie Mustangs prevail over Summerland in senior boys volleyball
He added in the previous meetings between the teams, the Rockets stopped being aggressive, giving up early leads.
In the second game Wednesday, the two teams continued to trade leads through the match, but in the end the final score was 25-21.
The Rockets dominated in the third and deciding game coming out on top 25-19.
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