The R.F. Staples senior girls volleyball team lost out in the second round of playoffs over the weekend at Morinville’s Lion’s Western Canadian Challenge Invitational Volleyball Tournament.
They faced a tough round-robin schedule with all five games on Friday, lending to mental and physical exhaustion that carried into Saturday’s playoffs.
“Friday was a long day both mentally and physically,” said coach Keith Szautner. “I think it was a good experience this weekend knowing what it feels like to play tired, knowing what our mind does because we made some mental errors this weekend and that cost us.”
The tourney had 48 teams in total — 24 teams on both the girls and boys sides. The girls were matched up against five challenging teams.
Okotoks’ Holy Trinity Academy beat the T-Birds, knocking them down in two matches. Bowness High School followed up downing the T-Birds in two.
Heading into its third match, the T-Birds took over the court defeating St. Albert Catholic High School in two close matches, 25-18 and 27-25. The next match-up tied up the teams standings, with R.F. Staples pulling off its second win against Sexmith Secondary School in two sets.
The final round robin game saw a close battle on the court, with the T-Birds ultimately losing in three sets, putting them in third place in their pool.
“If we’d have won that one, we’d have come in second in our pool. We’d have had a little easier of a draw, starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, but we lost in three, so we had to play again at 8 a.m. Saturday morning,” Szautner said. “We got home late Friday night and then turned around and we were leaving by 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning.”
The T-Birds beat out the first round of competition in playoffs, conquering La Crete Public School 25-15 and 25-22, putting them into the second round of playoffs, where they fell to Peace Wapiti Academy in three sets.
“We played them in the semifinals in the Spruce Grove tournament a few weekends ago and we beat them in three in a very, very close match,” he said. “When push came to shove, the last few points in that match, they seemed to have a little more than we did at that point, unfortunately. It was ours for the taking and we weren’t able to do that.”
Peace Wapiti Academy ended up going all the way to the bronze medal match, losing to Spirit River Regional Academy.
Despite a tough draw at the event, Szautner said it was a good experience for the team.
“If we can get mentally strong in those key situations, even when we’re physically tired, and fight through it mentally, we’re going to be right where we want to be,” he said.
The T-Birds boys lost in the first round of playoffs to Edmonton’s St. Francis Xavier in three matches, losing the first 25-18 then turning the tables beating Xavier 25-18. The final match was a loss of 15-5.
Both teams will play host this weekend for their annual tournament — something Szautner said has pros and cons. “Obviously, it’s easy to get to your house and sleep in your own bed every night, but the downside is that there’s lots to do when hosting your own tournament,” he said, adding that players help with scorekeeping, set up and running concessions. “We’re looking forward to not having to travel though, that’s for sure.
