The R.F. Staples senior boys volleyball team had a strong showing at a tournament in Spruce Grove last weekend, coming home with silver medals around their necks. And despite losing the final match to the host St.
The R.F. Staples senior boys volleyball team had a strong showing at a tournament in Spruce Grove last weekend, coming home with silver medals around their necks.
And despite losing the final match to the host St. Peter the Apostle Spartans in two-straight sets, the T-Birds learned they can play competitively against all comers - the sets were a relatively close 25-20 and 25-19.
'When we went in, we set a goal for ourselves that we wanted to reach semifinals," coach Steve McKenna said. 'We exceeded that goal."
For the round-robin portion of the tournament Westlock went undefeated, which included the Spartans. The trouble was, by the time the finals rolled around it was already well into the evening; the last round-robin game was in the morning, and the semi-final wasn't until 5:30 p.m. 'By that point my guys were exhausted by the time they hit the finals," he said. 'They gave it all they had but the tank was pretty empty."
A silver medal from this tournament was by no means a disappointing finish, all things considered. The T-Birds also got a taste of victory against teams from Morinville and Whitecourt, against which they will compete at the important zone tournament near the end of the season. That said, nobody will have much of a chance to sit back and get complacent - things went well but there's always room for improvement, especially so early in the year.
'We'll just take it step by step," McKenna said. 'Hopefully everyone will learn from this weekend, the good stuff they did and some of the mistakes."
They will get the chance to keep building on their momentum this weekend as they head to Whitecourt for a tournament hosted by the Hilltop Chargers.
