Dreams of returning from St. Paul with a gold medal from the 3A girls volleyball provincials were dashed for the BCHS Gryphons even before the playoff round had even started.
Having just won the North Central zone tournament at home Nov. 19, the girls came into the tournament with high hopes, but knew it wouldn’t be easy.
“The girls had a competitive tournament,” said coach Kyle Becker, adding that the three teams that qualified for the playoffs out of the Gryphons’ pool all made it to the semifinals.
Opening the tournament against Msgr. McCoy from Medicine Hat, the girls came up on the short end of the score, falling in two sets 11-25 and 18-25.
Against Holy Rosary from Lloydminster, the Gryphons rebounded with a hard-fought three-set win, 22-25, 25-21 and 15-8.
However, from there on out, it was all downhill as the girls dropped their three remaining matches.
They dropped a tough three-set match against St. Joseph from Grande Prairie 25-20, 15-25 and 15-17.
That was followed by a straight-sets defeat versus Edmonton’s Holy Trinity, 16-25 and 18-25.
Finally, the girls took on Springbank from Calgary and dropped the one set they played 21-25 to finish fifth in their pool with a 1-4 record and eliminating them from advancing to the playoff round.
Despite failing to advance any further, Becker said he was proud of how the girls played and comported themselves.
“The girls did a great job representing their school, community and zone,” he said. “They were classy and great ambassadors.”
However, he did say there was one regret.
“Obviously we wish we could have made it further into the tournament, but they valued the experience and enjoyed the opportunity to compete one final time as a team,” he said.
