Although it was their home tournament, the St. Mary Sharks boys volleyball team came up short in its quest for the title.
Hosting the 2012 edition of the Joe Nestorovich Memorial tournament at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre Nov. 2-3, the ‘B’ Sharks came in second, losing a two-set final to Redwater ‘B’, 13-25 and 16-25.
Despite the label, the ‘B’ squad was actually the more experienced team, said coach Vance Nakonechny. The ‘B’ squad comprised the grade 11-12 members of the entire team; the grade 9-10 players made up the ‘A’ squad.
Even though the teams had differing results – the ‘B’ team winning silver and the ‘A’ team missing the playoff round – Nakonechny said he was happy with how they played.
“I’m very proud of both teams,” he said. “They played a lot of volleyball the past two days.”
Since the teams were made up of what is normally the entire team, they were both playing with short benches. That meant all the players saw plenty of time on the court, and responded well to the challenge.
Speaking of the ‘A’ team, Nakonechny said their performance impressed him.
“I liked their compete level,” he said. “They were willing to make plays on defence. They were positive and battled every match.”
For the ‘B’ side, Nakonechny was a bit more critical.
“They’re getting better with their consistency, but there are still lulls in their momentum,” he said. “The mental side of their game is what we’re going to be working on the next two weeks.”
Nakonechny explained that there were times the boys would make a very good play on one point, and then follow it up by playing a point while mentally asleep.
On the positive side, Nakonechny said the offence played well, and at times the defence followed suit.
“If we cane put those together, we’ll do well at zones,” he said.
That zone tournament is the boys’ next action, as they’re taking the Remembrance Day weekend off.
Zones are scheduled for Nov. 16-17 at the Spirit Centre.
Each team played six matches of two sets each. Teams were ranked by how many sets they won.
The ‘A’ side won only two of the 12 sets it played in round robin action. The boys lost both sets against Thorhild, Swan Hills, St. Mary ‘B’, Redwater ‘B’ and École Beauséjour. Their only winning sets came against Redwater ‘A’, 25-22 and 25-20.
The ‘B’ side won nine of its 12 sets. The boys beat Swan Hills, Redwater ‘A’, St. Mary ‘A’ and Thorhild in both sets. They lost both sets to Redwater ‘B’, 22-25 and 14-25, and split with École Beauséjour, losing 21-25 before taking the second set 25-9.
In the semifinal match against Thorhild, St. Mary won the match in three sets, 25-17, 21-25 and 15-10, setting up a rematch with Redwater ‘B’.
