They scrapped for every ball, they threw themselves about, they made their fans proud … but in the end the young Gryphons succumbed to lack of experience and fatigue.
In a riveting best-of-five set volleyball final, the Barrhead Composite High School junior boys showed their huge promise against St. Mary Sharks from Westlock.
Spectators in the BCHS gym on Saturday were kept enthralled by an intense and gutsy exhibition of volleyball from both teams.
Inevitably, towards the end footwork began to slow and serves go astray as tiredness from a long day took its toll.
Nevertheless neither side was prepared to give an inch. Each game proved a nail-biter, with the Sharks finally squeezing home by scores of 25-22, 25-20 and 25-20 to claim gold.
For Gryphons acting coach Barb Sabiston, silver represented a huge achievement for her team.
“The boys kept improving throughout the day,” she said. “I think in the final they were tired and they didn’t move their feet as well as they had.
“Overall, though, it was a very good team effort and I am extremely proud of all of them.”
St. Mary coach Vance Nakonechny said he was very impressed with the Gryphons.
“I think towards the end we were more offensive, but Barrhead played very well. They definitely served well and were no quitters,” he said.
“We were a little stronger today and hit balls down on to the floor. Barrhead are a young team and are going to be very good. They do the fundamentals tremendously well.”
He added that both teams were a little tired by the end.
“We were just a little better today. A number of our players, I thought, played as well as they could, but all the games were close.”
The Junior Varsity Invitational Volleyball Tournament – in which girls also participated – featured six boys team: BCHS, Fort Saskatchewan, Swan Hills, St. Mary, Sturgeon and Gerard Redmond.
In the early matches Gryphons swept all before them. They beat Fort Saskatchewan 25-19, 25-23, Sturgeon, 21-25, 25-18 and 16-14, Gerard Redmond 25-14, 15-25 and 15-7, and Swan Hills 25-10, 25-14.
St. Mary Sharks were equally impressive, beating Swan Hills 25-20, 25-17, Sturgeon 26-27, 25-22 and 15-9, and Gerard Redmond 25-11, 25-17.
The unbeaten Gryphons and the Sharks were due to square off in a round robin match. But by that time both sides had done enough to reach the final, so it was decided against holding a meaningless contest. Instead the teams agreed to a best-of-five final.
“I thought that was a very good idea,” said Nakonechny, adding that such a final was a test of stamina and mental fitness.
“It is very encouraging to win gold, but we don’t want to stop here, we don’t want this to be our best performance. We are a work in progress.”
Passing was one of the areas St. Mary needed to focus on in practice, he said.
Next up for the Sharks is a home event – the Joe Nestrovich Memorial tournament on Saturday.
