For much of Saturday the Barrhead Composite High School girls were unstoppable.
They rolled over opponents with impressive ease to reach the semi-finals of the Junior Varsity Invitational Volleyball Tournament.
It took a strategically sound opposition to block the Gryphons’ progress – but that is what they found in R.F. Staples Thunderbirds from Westlock.
The Thunderbirds used their tipping game to maximum effect to win in three sets and book a showdown with Ardrossan High School.
In a seesaw final, the Thunderbirds edged the opening set 27-26 and fell agonizingly short in the second, 26-24. With fatigue setting in they lost the decider 9-15 to take home silver medals and plenty of confidence for future tournaments.
Earlier it had looked as though the Gryphons would give the enthusiastic home crowd at the BCHS gym even more to shout about when they outplayed the Thunderbirds to take the first set 25-16.
With both teams putting on a display of athleticism and great grit, the second set seemed to hang in the balance.
The Thunderbirds, however, were now fired up and the Gryphons struggled to respond, eventually going down 19-25 and 11-15.
The Gryphons’ coach Gayle Lamothe said her team had plenty to be proud about and could learn valuable lessons.
“I am not disappointed. I think the girls played well to make the semi-finals after a cleansweep in the earlier matches,” she said. “They should be proud of themselves.
“We take each tournament one at a time. We will have a lot more chances.”
Lamothe, who used all her players, said the Thunderbirds had played a tipping game, something the Gryphons would have to learn to address.
“We also need to work on our hitting and being aggressive,” she added.
The day-long tournament, in which boys also took part, saw eight girls teams split into two pools for the round robin matches.
BCHS was in Pool A with Athabasca, Edson and Whitecourt. Pool B comprised the Thunderbirds, Hinton, Ardrossan and Fort Saskatchewan.
It was cruise control for the Gryphons who emerged as pool winners without dropping a set, beating Athabasca 25-18, 25-14 and Edson, 25-7, 25-15. Only Whitecourt put up some resistance, before succumbing 24-26, 17-25.
Next up was Hinton in the playoffs. Although the competition was stiffer, the Gryphons never looked in serious trouble, taking the match 25-19, 25-17.
“The teams in the early rounds were not very tough,” said Lamothe. “Once we crossed pools it became more competitive.”
Thunderbirds coach Kirsten Brinks said her team did “exceptionally well” to take home silver medals.
It had been a long day for her players, who had beaten Hinton 25-3, 25-15, and Fort Saskatchewan 25-25, 25-15 in the pool games, before coming unstuck against Ardrossan 25-23, 22-25 and 10-15.
“It was our first tournament of the season, so I am very pleased with the girls’ performance,” she said.
“In the first two games of the final we came out really sharp, but I think in the third one fatigue got to us.”
Brinks was full of praise for T-Birds’ nemesis Ardrossan.
“They had exceptional servers who gave us some grief,” she said.
Brinks said the Thunderbirds’ passing had been solid and they worked tirelessly in defence.
“Overall it was a really good team effort and they should be very proud. This is an exciting bunch of players,” she added.
