WESTLOCK — The R.F. Staples Thunderbirds senior girls’ volleyball team went undefeated this weekend as they claimed the 3A North Central Zone Championship, which was hosted in Westlock on Nov. 17-18.
The T-Birds will now head on to the 3A Girls Provincials at Strathmore from Thursday to Saturday (Nov. 23-25).
Heading into the weekend, coach Leanne Huppertz said the R.F. Staples senior girls had been ranked first in the zone, with their eventual opponents in the final, Hilltop, finishing in second place.
As well, Huppertz said they had played many of the teams competing at zones, while others had been at tournaments that the seniors girls had also competed in.
“You don’t want to be too overconfident ... but we felt that we were in a good spot,” she said.
In round robin action, the R.F. Staples team downed Morinville Community High School, Edwin Parr Composite from Athabasca and Devon in two sets each.
Finishing first in their pool gave the T-Birds a bye into the semi-finals where they downed Drayton Valley in two sets.
That put them into the final with Hilltop. In the first set, it seemed as though the two teams were evenly-matched for the first 10 points or so, but the T-Birds eventually pulled away and won 25-15.
The second set also ended in a 25-14 victory for the T-Birds, though this time they pulled early ahead and built up a considerable lead.
Huppertz said the R.F. Staples girls were pretty solid this weekend, adding that they “weren’t too hyper” and kept things on an even keel.
“They did some really great things. It seems like we’re peaking at the right time. It’s all coming together,” Huppertz said.
Another good thing about the weekend was that every Westlock girl got to play instead of relying on the same six players to bring them victory.
Looking forward to provincials, the T-Birds are ranked fifth in the province behind St. Peter the Apostle (from Spruce Grove), Holy Rosary (Lloydminster), St. Joseph (Grande Prairie) and Magrath (southern Alberta).
Huppertz noted they have faced the top three teams earlier in the season, and while they have managed to beat Holy Rosary once, the others have handed Westlock losses.
"We’ve seen them; they’re strong teams. We’re not surprised who’s ahead of us, really,” she said.
Huppertz noted they have also seen several of the teams ranked below hem, such as Peace Wapiti (sixth place) and St. Albert (eighth).
