In their first tournament action of the season, the Barrhead Composite High School senior girl’s volleyball team took home a silver medal.
Playing in the Gryphon Invitational 2011 on their home court, the girls were bested in the championship final by St. Albert Catholic.
The two-day, 16-team tournament featured four pools of four teams, who played a round robin on Friday, Sept. 9. After the round robin, the girls were second in their pool, having beaten Whitecourt’s Hilltop school and Onoway, and losing only to St. Albert Catholic.
Having finished second, they played and defeated the first place team in the ‘D’ pool, J.A. Williams from Lac La Biche in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, BCHS took on their rivals from the east, Westlock’s R.F. Staples. The Gryphons emerged victorious and moved on to final, where they met up with their round-robin nemesis, St. Albert Catholic.
Alas, that was where their run came to an end, as the Gryphons came out on the short end of the score and had to settle for a silver medal at home.
“The overall performance by the girls was very respectable,” said coach Kyle Becker in an email. “We have a strong group of athletes this year and each of them proved that they can go in and do their part to help with the team’s success.”
Up next for the girls is a trip down to the University of Alberta this weekend, followed by a tournament at Bev Facey Community High School in Sherwood Park the following weekend.
“Those should be two very challenging tournaments because they’ll involve a lot of larger 4A schools,” Becker said.
As the season progresses, he said the team’s goal is ultimately to have fun. However, he added that the girls are aiming high, with a desire to bring the zone banner to Barrhead and qualify for the provincial tournament at the end of the season.
