The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Arch rivals Hapnot Collegiate Kopper Kings and R.D. Parker Collegiate Trojans faced each other for the Kodiak Invitational volleyball tournament final in Creighton, last weekend. It was a dominating start for the Kopper Kings as they grabbed a 5-1 lead which grew to 8-3. That forced an early Trojans time-out that didn't do anything to stop the bleeding as the strong play of the Kopper Kings continued. The team received tremendous leadership from their captains, but especially, Daniel Dowell. He pumped his fist in the air on every point his team earned and on the ones opponents gave up on offense. His emotions seemed to spread throughout his teammates as the Kopper Kings won the first set 25-12. Kopper Kings head coach Craig McIntosh commented on Dowell following the game. "Extremely important," he says, of Dowell's emotion. " I knew that coming in that was going to be a huge attribute to the team." Along with Dowell making great plays on both sides of the ball, the rest of the team played so well it seemed R.D. Parker, in from Thompson, didn't deserve to face them, this despite the Trojans defeating the Kopper Kings in two straight sets Friday night. R.D. Parker never redeemed themselves in the first set, but whatever the coach said between games helped. The Kopper Kings had to come from behind to take a 12-10 lead as R.D. Parker didn't allow the Kopper Kings an easy second set victory. The Kopper Kings would go on to win 25-19 as they didn't allow their opponents a chance to build momentum and win. "All things considered, this being the first tournament of the year, I was pleasantly surprised," McIntosh says. "This is just an indication of where we stand right now. We know Thompson's going to get better and you know, we need to work harder to stay on top." Also impressing McIntosh was the play of his younger players, specifically first year setter Chad Ticzon, who hadn't set before this summer. "His attributes are speed and his ability to communicate with the team," McIntosh explained. "He needs to work on his hands a little bit, he has great court awareness, he knows where his big hitters are and he knows where his weapons are." McIntosh considers that really good at this stage. The Hapnot Kopper Kweens finished fourth after losing to Creighton 25-16, 18-25, and 15-6. They defeated Creighton on Friday night then lost to R.D. Parker on Saturday to earn the right to play for third place. In the girls championship game, the Frontier Collegiate Raiders lost to R.D. Parker 25-18 and 25-16. Raiders coach Mick McMillan said his teams' performance was pretty good considering they only had two practices. The girls improved all weekend," McMillan says. "I'm very proud of them right now. It was pretty tight coming here to Creighton, to participate in this tournament. I'm looking for bigger and better things." He credited R.D. Parker, by saying "they're a great team, they have their whole starting lineup from last year, we only have three returnees." In the end, they lost because R.D. Parker received great serving from their captain, who made 12 serves in a row. "If you can't get a serve back, you're not gonna win the game," says McMillan.9/21/2005
