The St. Mary senior boys volleyball team are champions.
Competing in the R.F. Staples JV tournament over the weekend, the Sharks lost only three of the 14 sets they played en route to the gold medal victory over Onoway.
“I’m very pleased with their overall effort,” said coach Vance Nakonechny.
The final match was a showcase of volleyball talent from two teams that were very evenly matched. In the end, however, only one team could win, and that team was the Sharks who earned a 25-22 and 26-24 straight-sets victory.
Nakonechny said the team’s success over the weekend was the result of strong ball movement on the defensive end, as well as aggressive play at the net.
In addition, he said the boys kept their intensity level up the whole time, minus a few gaps here and there.
Although the win was nice, Nakonechny said there were other parts of the weekend he feels will help the team as it progresses through the remainder of its season.
“The best part was we played some tight games,” he said. “You need to create those pressure situations, and the boys responded well.”
He added that it’s hard to practise those pressure situations because it’s hard to tell how the players will react when presented with them in an actual game.
All in all, he said he felt the boys showed well.
“We competed hard,” he said. “That was good to see.”
Despite the win, Nakonechny said the team still has some things it needs to work out with the zone tournament approaching.
The boys need to be more consistent in their serving, he said. Their passing, while OK, could also benefit from some improvement.
He also said the boys have to work on playing every point instead of getting down when they encounter a bit of adversity.
In getting to the gold-medal match, the Sharks first had to get through a five-match round robin.
They opened the tournament with a 25-14, 25-15 win on Friday over Camrose. That was followed by a 19-25, 25-13 split with Onoway. Friday’s last match was a 23-25, 15-25 loss to Barrhead.
On Saturday, the Sharks started off with a 25-18, 25-10 win over R.F. Staples. To wrap up the round robin, they defeated Lillian Osborne 27-25, 25-9.
In winning seven sets, and earning more points against Onoway than they surrendered, the Sharks earned top spot in the round robin, setting up a quarterfinal rematch with Camrose, which ended with the Sharks winning 25-21 and 25-18.
The Sharks’ next few tournaments don’t require any travel, as they will all be in Westlock.
On Oct. 26-27, they will be taking part in the R.F. Staples senior high tournament.
Then on Nov. 2-3, the Sharks will be hosting their own tournament.
Finally, they are hosting the zone tournament on Nov. 16-17. All three tournaments are at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre.
