It wasn’t quite the result the team was looking for, but the BCHS senior boys volleyball team is happy with its third-place finish in last weekend’s tournament at Louis St. Laurent in Edmonton.
“I thought we had a really good weekend, other than the one loss,” said coach Rod Callihoo. “We lost one match and it was against a tough team.”
That one loss came in the semifinal, when the Gryphons fell to Cardston 23-25 and 20-25, he said, who then went on to win the tournament.
Callihoo said he believes Cardston is one of the top teams in the province, and he was happy to finally get the chance to play them this season.
“We were quite happy to play them for the first time this year, to see how we compare and what we have to do to be successful,” he said.
Leading up to the match against Cardston, the Gryphons first had to get through the round robin part of the tournament, which they did with flying colours.
In their opening match, BCHS took on St. Joseph’s from Grande Prairie. It was a close match, but the Gryphons emerged victorious in two sets, 25-22 and 25-19.
The next match against Beaverlodge was a lot smoother for the Gryphons, as they took out their opponents in straight sets again, this time 25-14 and 25-16.
The final match of the round robin pitted BCHS against Edmonton Christian, in a rematch of a game from the tournament in Morinville the previous weekend. And much like they did in Morinville, the Gryphons knocked off their opponents, 25-22 and 25-20.
Callihoo said the closeness of the matches with St. Joseph’s and Edmonton Christian speaks to how other schools want to see how they compare to the Gryphons.
“All these teams that we see play us hard,” he said. “We have to work for everything we get. All these teams want to measure up against us. They push us to figure out how well they compare.”
Those three wins put the Gryphons in first place in their pool, and set them up for first-round playoff match against St. Paul, Callihoo said.
It would prove to be another strong match for the Gryphons, who took the match in two sets, 25-19 and 25-16.
Unfortunately, that would be as far as the Gryphons advanced, falling in their semifinal match against Cardston.
Despite the defeat, Callihoo said there were some positives to come out of the tournament.
“It’s good to be humbled,” he said. “We realize that nothing’s going to be easy.”
He added that with some more attention to detail and forcing the action, the Gryphons very well could have won the tournament.
Another bright spot for the boys was the play of Spencer Voight, who was named to the tournament all-star team for his efforts on the court, Callihoo said.
Up next for the senior boys is a trip down to Camrose Nov. 4-5, for their final tournament before zones. In Camrose, Callihoo said he hopes to play against Medicine Hat’s Crescent Heights, who will be hosting the provincial tournament at the end of the month.
The zone tournament is scheduled for Nov. 18-19 in Spruce Grove. The top two teams there will advance to Medicine Hat for the Nov. 24-26 provincial tournament.
