It took three tournaments, but the R.F. Staples senior boys volleyball team is finally a champion.
Playing in the Whitecourt tournament this past Friday and Saturday, the boys knocked off host Hilltop in the final 25-20, 25-23 to earn their first title of the season. The win comes after falling in the semis in Barrhead two weeks ago and then losing in the final last week in Camrose.
“This was as good as you can get as an overall team effort,” said coach Steve McKenna. “Everybody did their job and everybody played exceptional.”
Defeating Hilltop on their own court was even sweeter for the club, McKenna said, since it was Hilltop that knocked the T-Birds out of the Barrhead tournament.
In that match the T-Birds felt they were the better team, but several bad bounces derailed their hopes. None of that bad luck seemed to be on display on Saturday as the T-Birds displayed just what they can do when they’re on their game.
“The boys played exceptional volleyball on the weekend,” McKenna said. “It’s probably the best volleyball I’ve seen them play.”
In getting to the final, the boys first had to get past Edson in the semifinals, a task they accomplished in two close sets.
Prior to that was the round robin, where the T-Birds knocked off their opponents en route to a first-place finish.
However, McKenna said the level of competition in the round robin was not quite at the same level as the T-Birds’ playoff opponents.
“Not to take anything away from what the boys did, the boys went in there and played hard, but (the other teams) weren’t nearly as strong as when we got into the playoffs,” he said.
On the other hand, he said the difference in the quality of the opposition and the overall result for the T-Birds showed the boys can elevate their own level of play when they need to.
With the Whitecourt championship under their belts, the T-Birds are now preparing to play in Spruce Grove this weekend.
McKenna said he’s expecting it to be a tough tournament because a lot of the teams in R.F. Staples’ zone will be present, giving the T-Birds a chance to see how they match up against their challengers to the zone title.
“We should get a good test and see where we really do fit in,” he said.
Looking to the Spruce Grove tournament and beyond, McKenna said the T-Birds are by no means a polished product yet.
“They played stellar volleyball (in Whitecourt), but there’s still areas that need to be tightened up and improved on,” he said.
Winning can hide those problems, he added, but they’re still there and can be exploited by top-level teams if they’re not eliminated.
Fix those shortcomings, McKenna said, and the T-Birds have a greater shot at winning zones and making noise at provincials.
