CANMORE – In a tense rally with players on both sides of the net diving to keep the ball alive during match point, the Canmore Wolverines ultimately scored the championship-winning point against the Bow Valley Bobcats at the local senior volleyball tournament.
With only a few weeks of training under their belts, the senior girls dominated the courts in Canmore on Saturday (Sept. 21) en route to the gold medal.
“I feel very proud considering it’s our first tournament and the girls pulled off a win,” said coach Reegan Downer. “We've been working really hard in a short amount of time to be able to accomplish this today.”
A former Wolverine herself, Downer said she will be looking to tidy up the team to hone in their skills before the next games.
“I think from here on out, it’s just cleaning up the skills that we already have and figuring out where everyone puzzle piece’s in to keep competing and to keep going up against harder teams,” said Downer.
However, she added that the team’s has nice depth early on.
“It was nice to know that if I looked on the bench, I can pretty much put anybody in and still get the same result that we did today,” she said.
Team captain Bella Murphy echoed her coach, saying she thinks the team has a lot of potential for a deep zones run this season.
“This group of girls is super fun, and we’re all super supportive, [we] work hard, everyone shows up to practice and I think it’s only up from here," Murphy said.
In the match for gold, the Wolverines won the first set 25-19 over the Bobcats before closing the show with a well-earned second set victory of 25-22.
The Banff Bears also went home with a pair of trophies after the girls and boys won their respective third place matches.
The Wolverines’ senior boys team was absent from the tournament as they don’t have enough players, resulting in some joining the Bears this season.
“They don’t have a senior team, so all their Grade 12s can’t play,” said Bears coach Michael Geertsema. “With the combined team, I think there's some significant potential.”
Geertsema will be putting the guys to work to build up their skills and get the team to mesh on court.
“Typically, with the volleyball season, it is chaos until the last two or three weeks of the season and then then the boys seem to sort of get their groove,” he said.
“Volleyball is a fast-paced game, and people just don't realize that a lot has happened in a very short period of time, and you have to respond really quickly. For a couple of these guys, it’s their first time playing senior ball, and it's a big step up from junior.”
The boys from Calgary’s Bert Church won gold after beating Rundle Academy in two sets (25-17, 25-23).
