High school volleyball in Westlock officially came to a close last weekend after the St. Mary Sharks, the only team in the area to earn a spot at provincials, finished in fifth place.
The Sharks lost their quarter-final match in two games against New Norway, the host team at the 1A championships, by the thinnest of margins: 25-22 and 29-27.
Coach Vance Nakonechny said the team showed their true colours by persevering the whole time.
“I was very pleased with our comeback in the second game of the quarter-final match. We were down 21-11 and everyone in the gym thought it was over but our boys just kept working and working to tie it at 25,” he said. “It shows there’s not a lot of quit in our boys. They tried their best the whole weekend, and as a coach that’s all you can ask for.”
Had things gone differently in the Friday-night match against Bawlf, with two games going 27-25 and 26-24 against St. Mary, Nakonechny said the Sharks would have gone into the playoffs in second place and the final result of the tournament could well have been different.
The Sharks won two of their four round-robin matches to end up third place in their pool, but stayed very competitive in the matches they did lose. Not a single game ended up being a blowout.
“At that level, all the teams are very solid and it just shows the importance of playing every single point and not becoming complacent at all,” he said.
Regardless of the outcome, however, Nakonechny said the team’s performance was solid all season, with the younger players quickly learning the game and all the players quickly coming together as a team.
“In volleyball you’re only as good as your weakest player and they really improved throughout the season,” he said. “They were provincial caliber by the end of it, so full credit goes to them.”
He added he looks forward to being able to coach the team again next year, even if it will require a stylistic adjustment to account for the loss of three strong offensive players.
“We’ve got some good returning veterans, but to be honest there’s going to be a huge offensive hole with the Doblanko brothers and Mark Ritter graduating,” he said. “We’re obviously going to be more of a defensive team and that’s how we’re going to have to win matches next year.”
