The Westlock Thunderbirds senior girls volleyball team put in a strong showing at Gryphon Invitational Volleyball Tournament in Barrhead last weekend after only a week and a half of school and a handful of practices.
Coach Keith Szautner suggested his team could find themselves in contention for the zone championships based on their Top 4 finish at the Sept. 9-10 tournament.
“It was a very positive tournament. The girls came in first in their pool in the round robin,” he said.
The girls easily defeated Whitecourt’s Hilltop Chargers in three sets in the quarterfinals before facing the Barrhead in the semifinals.
The Barrhead Gryphons proved to be a tougher team to beat, which Szautner said was to be expected.
“I would probably rank them No. 1 in the zone this year. We’ll have to beat them if we want to go to provincials,” he said.
The T-Birds beat their semifinal opponents 25-23 in the first set, then lost 25-17 and 15-10 in the last two. The loss was a good learning experience, however, and demonstrated for the girls what they’re capable of.
“It’s a good sign that we beat them one of those three games. We were pretty competitive with them,” coach Szautner said.
Most of the players on this year’s T-Birds played on the team last year, with eight of the 11 players returning, and having so much of the team experienced at working together will make a big difference on the court.
“We lost some of our attacking and some of our net play, which is something we have to focus on — putting some balls away and making some big blocks,” he said.
The girls won the zone tournament last year and had a strong showing at provincials, as well, which Szautner said translates to a certain confidence on the court.
“They know what needs to get done, and for the most part they did pretty well,” said the coach.
The team’s next action will be Sept. 23-24 at a tournament hosted by the Hilltop Chargers in Whitecourt.
