Prairie River Raiders boys’ volleyball team. Front left-right, are Dave Espina, Mondi Lascuna and Leon Palisoc. Back left-right, are head coach Kyle Tucker, coach Hannah Knowles, Logan Krupa, Kieran Larson, Yulrick Evardo, Brayden Letendre, Trent Mindel, and coach Lyndon Rich. Missing is Taylor Noskeye.

Richard Froese
South Peace News
Prairie River Raiders of High Prairie faced tough competition at the northwest zone junior high school boys’ volleyball championships.

After winning the High Prairie School Division championship at home on Oct. 29-30, the Raiders lost all three games in the preliminary round-robin play at zones Nov. 4-5 in Valleyview.

“The boys had a tough tournament, played hard but did not make the playoffs,” head coach Kyle Tucker says.
“We expected to reach the semifinals.”

The Raiders fell to G.P. Vanier of Donnelly, St. Gerard’s of Grande Prairie, and Fairview in round-robin play.

“Their play at zones came with a lot of added pressure and very tough competition and it proved to be too much in the end,” Tucker says.

Team captain Trent Mindel was selected most valuable player by the coach as a phenomenal player and the coach’s favourite player for his great efforts every games and consistent play.

Taylor Noskeye was recognized for his dedication and hard work all season.

Leon Palisoc was the most improved player.

Despite the result at zones, the coaches were impressed with the result at divisionals.

“I expected the boys to make finals for sure and defend the title as they won last year,” Tucker says.
“It was definitely the best volleyball team I have coached at PRJH.
“They had great chemistry on the court and no matter who I put on the floor they found a way to win and succeed.”