The R.F. Staples girls volleyball team brought home a bronze medal from the zone championships over the weekend in Barrhead, but will not be heading to provincials after falling in the semi-final to the hosts.
“It was very emotional, obviously, because it’s the end of the season,” said coach Keith Szautner. “It hurts all the time when you lose but (more so) when you play very good volleyball.”
He said the girls played their best volleyball yet this season, but were simply unable to beat Barrhead. Throughout the season, Barrhead proved to be tough competition.
“You’d like to win it all obviously and that was our goal going in —win zones and go to provincials — but sometimes even when you play your best, it doesn’t work out,” he said.
Heading into zones, R.F. Staples was ranked second behind only Barrhead. The teams ended up playing a very close match in the semi-finals.
“The No. 1 and 2 ranked teams were playing in the semis, which ideally would have been finals, but it didn’t really matter,” he said. “Only one team was going to provincials anyways.”
Barrhead took the first set 26-24, with the T-Birds tying it up with a 25-21 win in the second. The third set was close, but Barrhead edged its way to a 15-13 win, pushing the T-Birds out.
Barrhead went on to beat Athabasca in the finals, while the T-Birds played a solid two sets against Whitecourt to win the bronze medal.
“It’s kind of a tough one because really, there’s only one team going to provincials so coming in third or fourth in your zone, is a little bit like kissing your sister,” Szautner said. “It was a tough match to play; the girls are very disappointed. It was tough on both teams.”
He said, however, that heading into the bronze medal game forced the girls to get over their disappointment.
“By the time we finished playing that bronze medal match, the sting was taken out a little bit.”
For most of the team, this was their last shot at provincials, with eight of the 10 members graduating.
Most of the girls had a chance to go to provincials last year, but Szautner said it would have been nice for them to cap off their Grade 12 year heading to provincials.
Before bidding adieu to the court, most of the team will be heading to Hawaii in the spring — something he said might help to lift the player’s spirits.
“Through the tears and the hugs, we did say we had a chance to celebrate a bit in the spring in club season,” he laughed.
Despite a crushing defeat at zones, Szautner said it was important to recognize that the team played its best over the weekend, even if it didn’t end up winning.
“Champions play their best when it matters; they don’t always win. And our girls did that this weekend,” he said.
