Rocque continues to roll at Alberta Scotties

Skip Kayla Skrlik yells out to her teammates to sweep during third draw of the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
Skip Nicky Kaufman throws the hammer rock during third draw of the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
Skip Krysta Hilker throws the hammer rock during third draw of the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
Skip Kelsey Rocque throws the hammer rock during third draw of the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
Team Sherrer lead Brenna Bilassy, left, and third Janais DeJong sweep the rock during third draw of the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
Team Scheidegger third Cary-Anne McTaggart, left, and lead Kristie Moore sweep the rock during third draw of the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
Team Hilker lead Heather Steele, left, and second Sydney Lewko sweep the rock during third draw of the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
Skip Jodi Vaughan intently watches her shot during the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
Team Walker third Kate Cameron, left, and second Taylor McDonald sweep the rock during third draw of the 2020 Sentinel Storage Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Murray Arena in Okotoks on Jan. 23. (Evan Buhler/Western Wheel)
PLACE TEAM WINS LOSSES
1st Team Rocque 3 0
2nd Team Walker 3 0
3rd Team Hilker 2 1
4th Team Skrlik 2 1
5th Team Vaughan 1 2
6th Team Scheidegger 1 2
7th Team Kaufman 0 3
8th Team Sherrer 0 3

 

OKOTOKS – Team Rocque continued its dominance in the 2020 Alberta Scotties as it doubled up the tournament dark horse, Krysta Hilker rink 8-4 on Thursday afternoon at the Murray Arena in Okotoks.


Kelsey Rocque, the only Canadian woman to win back-to-back world junior championships, controlled the draw from the start and never wavered.
“They have been playing really well so far so we knew we had to bring our A-game,” said Rocque of the Hilker squad. “We really just want to keep the same mindset going into every match, trust our abilities and play with confidence.”

The victory improved Rocque to 3-0 after three draws.

The Hilker rink struggled to match its impressive shot making and offensive play from yesterday, only scoring one multiple end in the loss.

“We wanted to come out like we did yesterday against Scheidegger to keep them close and really limit them to small gains, which I think we did,” said Hilker.

“Unfortunately today our shot making really let us down today. When they missed shots we failed to capitalize on those chances and that hurt us in the end.”

Rocque scored a pair of points in the third, fifth and seventh ends giving her the edge in the match.

“We are happy with where we are and just want to continue to play at a consistent level," she said.

Even with a change to the line-up, Rocque looked steady. The rink swapped out second Becca Hebert, who is seven months pregnant, for Heather Rogers.

“It was really about giving Becca a little bit of a break especially in such a demanding tournament. We’ve been able to include Heather in some out our practices and games this season so we are comfortable playing with her. She can jump right in,” Rocque said.

The Edmonton rink will look to retain its perfect record this evening when it takes on the Laura Walker rink, who also sit at 3-0.

“They are a fantastic team so that game will come down to some pretty close plays I think, it should be fun,” Rocque said.

Skip Kayla Skrlik and her rink bounced back against Marla Sherrer in the third draw of the tournament after being upset by Hilker on Wednesday evening. The Calgary rink was able to hold off a late push back from Sherrer to win 7-6. Skrlik holds a 2-1 record, while Sherrer falls to 0-3 in the tournament.

The Laura Walker rink out of Edmonton continued its impressive start to the provincial championships on Thursday afternoon as she took on Jodi Vaughan. Walker downed the Lethbridge rink 7-4. Vaughan fell to 1-2.

Casey Scheidegger and her rink corrected their slow start to the tournament with a strong performance against Nicky Kaufman. The 2018 provincial champ climbed out to a 4-2 lead halfway through the draw and didn’t look back as they went on to win 6-4. Scheidegger now sits at 1-2, while Kaufman sits at 0-3.

Action at Murray Arena will resume at 6:30 p.m. for the fourth draw.

The top four teams after seven draws will advance to the playoffs on Saturday.

For the latest on the Scotties go to https://www.okotokstoday.ca/2020-alberta-scotties

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