The St. Mary senior boys volleyball season continues as the team is headed for provincials after sweeping the North Central Zones championship over the weekend.
“They really raised their level of play throughout the day and it was an outstanding final,” said coach Vance Nakonechny.
The team went undefeated to face Edmonton’s Parkland Immanuel Christian School in the final Saturday night at St. Mary School.
“We were actually down seven points in the first set and the boys showed a lot of character and just dug deep and made up that deficit and won that first set,” he said. “I think that really took a lot of the momentum out of the other team.”
He said the team’s performance improved as the day went on, with the strongest level of play displayed in the final match.
An area of weakness for the Sharks throughout the year has been serving, which Nakonechny said has been improved upon over the last few weeks of practice.
“Our serving really became more solidified. It because much more consistent,” he said, adding the team didn’t miss many serves and in the final match as one of the players served eight in a row changing the momentum of the match.
Heading into the 1A provincials, he said he is confident that the team will be a contender in taking home the banner.
“I think, if we can play the level we did in our final match, if we can play that consistently, I think we’ll be a contender at provincials,” he said.
A dozen teams will take the court over the provincial championships, including Acme School which upset the Sharks last year sending them home with a silver medal at provincials.
“The team that best us last year for the gold is back,” Nakonechny said, adding the Sharks would love to have another crack at them.
He said for the three senior players, Mark Ritter, Sawyer Doblanko and Taylor Doblanko, it would be great for them to take home a gold at provincials, although just heading to provincials for a third consecutive trip is accomplishment enough for them.
He also singled out Grade 11 setter Patrick Schaaf, adding he had an outstanding performance.
The Sharks will take the court at the 1A Boys Volleyball Provincial Championship at New Norway School, which is south of Camrose, from Nov. 24 to 26.
