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Junior Gryphons boys strike silver

Question: When does silver feel like gold? Answer: When you topple your keenest rivals to acquire it. Thus it was for the junior Gryphons boys on Saturday, who took down Westlock’s R.F.
Haul of silver: Barrhead ‘s junior boys parade their silver medals after Saturday ‘s JV volleyball tournament final against O ‘Leary. They are pictured with
Haul of silver: Barrhead ‘s junior boys parade their silver medals after Saturday ‘s JV volleyball tournament final against O ‘Leary. They are pictured with coach Steve Montgomery.

Question: When does silver feel like gold?

Answer: When you topple your keenest rivals to acquire it.

Thus it was for the junior Gryphons boys on Saturday, who took down Westlock’s R.F. Staples on their way to the final of a JV volleyball tournament at Barrhead Composite High School.

Yes, they wanted to be wearing gold after their final against Edmonton’s O’Leary Spartans. Yes they wanted to perform their very best.

Yet beating Westlock in three sets in a pulsating quarter-final encounter amounted to huge compensation. To win 25-20, 22-25 and 15-13 demonstrates courage and self-belief under pressure.

It is a hopeful sign so early in the volleyball season, proving that recent good results are no fluke.

Saturday’s event featured eight teams: Barrhead, Swan Hills, Hinton, Westlock, St. Mary’s, O’Leary, Fort Saskatchewan and Neerlandia.

They were divided into two pools, with each team playing three round robin matches.

Barrhead placed second in pool B, beating Fort Saskatchewan 25-9, 25-16, and Neerlandia 25-15, 25-13.

The loss came against O’Leary in what proved a dress rehearsal for the final. The Gryphons lost a closely-contested match 14-25, 25-15, 13-15.

The Spartans topped the pool with convincing victories over their two other opponents.

In the other pool, St. Mary’s emerged the winners, followed by Swan Hills, Westlock and Hinton.

With number two in Pool B playing number three in Pool A, fate had determined that an old rivalry should be resumed. It lived up to the billing, with each point keenly contested.

In the semi-final Barrhead came up against St. Mary’s. After the Gryphons edged a tight first set, 27-25, they found the going easier in the second, winning 25-15, to move into the final against the Spartans.

This time they could not push the contest into a deciding set, going down 16-25 and 24-26.

For coach Steve Montgomery the tournament was another great chance to evaluate his team.

As the day wore on it became crystal clear that the Gryphons needed to work on their serving.

“We missed too many serves – it was our nemesis all day,” he said. “It’s obviously something we need to work on improving.”

Montgomery praised the Spartans for exploiting the Gryphons’ weakness to excellent effect.

“I thought overall we played very well,” he added. “I am pretty happy with the way things went.”

The silver medals come a week after the boys took bronze in a tournament at Stony Plain, which saw nine other teams competing.

It meant yet another successful weekend for Barrhead volleyball.

The Gryphons junior boys volleyball roster this year includes Isaiah Raju, Coltin Demth, Nic Morrell, Lane Borle, Kris Krikke, Spencer Fisher, Tyson Chizma, Alekz Moes, Cole Knudson, Max Vriend and David Kleinfeldt.

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