A second-place finish at a 12-team tournament in Camrose last weekend is nothing to shake a stick at for the R.F. Staples senior boys volleyball team.
They fought hard to make it to the gold-medal game, up against a team from across the Pembina River that has been dominant in the zone this season.
“We made it to the final only to lose to Barrhead,” coach Steve McKenna said. “It’s unfortunate but I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Those guys played their hearts and souls out.”
The Thunderbirds lost the two sets of the final by 25-16 and 25-17 scores, but left the court happy knowing they held their own against the Gryphons — the last time the two teams met at a Whitecourt tournament, it was more of a blowout.
“They more or less dominated us in every facet of the game,” he said. “This time around they still beat us, but we were more competitive. We were still with them.”
McKenna said things got off to a bit of a rocky start on Friday, with a two-set loss to a team from Wetaskiwin, which the T-Birds likely could have beaten.
“I’d have to say that was our only glitch of the weekend,” he said.
The boys turned things up a notch as they moved forward through the round robin, and ended up in three-way tie for first. Due to their points for and points against, that left them in third place in their division.
The T-Birds won their quarter-final match against Morinville in two straight sets, then their semi-final match against New Norway in two straight sets.
McKenna said the confidence the boys gained from a close match with Barrhead will give them some confidence going into the zone tournament in Athabasca this weekend — and with a wildcard spot available for this zone, he believes they could end up competing for the provincial title as well.
“I truly believe we’re strong enough to take one of the top two positions,” he said.
