The boys seem to be picking up where they left off, while the girls have improved their performance greatly.
We’re talking about the Predators senior boys and senior girls volleyball teams from Athabasca’s Edwin Parr Composite following this past weekend’s opening tournament of the season in Barrhead.
Senior girls head coach Lance Gyte didn’t know quite what to expect with barely one practice in and a team that suffered beating after beating last season.
Despite not winning a match at the tournament, the girls displayed some skill and showed they won’t be the pushovers teams may have thought they would be again.
“The girls played well and better than I thought we would have this early,” Gyte said.
“We did win only on set at the end, but the girls were really competitive against teams that rolled over us last year.”
Where the girls are lacking somewhat is in the experience department.
Combine that with some confidence issues on the court and it translates into one mistake leading to another mistake, added Gyte.
“Then next thing you know, the opposition is on a five or six-point roll and we just are not able to recover,” he added.
“Those are the kind of things we can work on in practice, as well as the other little things like better passing, working on serves.
“Overall, there were so many positives we can take away from this weekend and with a more practices, we will continue to grow and improve.”
The girls opened the tournament against Pigeon Lake, falling by scores of 25-15, 25-21. They then played Louis St. Laurent out of Edmonton and were again very competitive in the two-set loss, 25-15, 25-20.
The only match they didn’t do as well in was against St. Paul, who have several members that play high-level club volleyball as well. The girls lost 25-10, 25-11.
They closed out the round robin against Hilltop High from Whitecourt and were again only a few points away from victory, losing 25-16, 25-21.
That left them to play on the consolation side of the draw, where they faced E.W. Pratt from High Prairie. The girls won the second set 25-9 after losing the first set 26-24 and the lost the deciding set 15-12.
“It was probably our most disappointing match as we led the final set 9-8 at the turn and had serve at 13-12, but put it into the net and pretty much ended it,” Gyte said.
Senior Boys fall to Barrhead
As for the senior boys, head coach Chad LeMessurier lost some experience after last year, but still had two players that can carry the load for a while in Max Elgert and Evan Kaminski.
However, the Predators’ nemesis – the Barrhead Gryphons – kept them off the podium once again, defeating them in the semifinal. Against Barrhead, with a roster filled with players rising over the six-foot, three-inch mark, the small Athabasca boys just were able to match up that well at the net.
Despite that loss, the tournament was considered a success for LeMessurier and his team overall.
It also provided an opportunity to see what the boys need to work on and what other areas have room for improvement.
The next action for both teams is this weekend at the University of Alberta High School Invitational held at the massive Saville Sports Centre.
That will be followed up with the annual Edwin Parr tournament at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex on Sept. 26 and 27.
