Volleyball highlights - October 10 and 11, 2012

Volleyball season is well underway.  Following are reports on the JV and SV games played in Pincher Creek and Lundbreck on Wednesday and Thursday.  Also of note, there is a Junior Volleyball tournament at the Matthew Halton School gym starting today, October 12 at 2:15 pm and carrying on Saturday from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm.

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• Livingstone Sabres JV and SV Girls vs JTF Raiders 

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Livingstone Sabres

The Livingstone Sabres JV and SV Girls hosted Nanton's J.T. Foster Raiders on Wednesday evening, October 10.

First up were the JV squads.  The Sabres forfeited automatically due to not having enough eligible players to form a JV team, but the game was played anyway with some help from some Senior Sabres.  The Sabres therefore had a slight edge in age and experience, and the Raiders had a slight edge in number of athletes.  Ultimately the Sabres took all three sets (albeit still forfeiting).  The first set was the closest, with a big run early on giving the Raiders a good head start, which the Sabres whittled down and finally overcame by the narrowest of margins, taking the set 26-24.   The Sabres took the second set 25-19 and the third 25-13, with a hard and low Sabres serve often being the deciding factor.  The Raiders put in a solid effort throughout but were unable to persevere against an older and more organized squad.

The SV sets were engaging and entertaining to watch.  The two squads stayed within a couple of points of each other early on, with the Sabres maintaining a small lead.  A few big Sabres saves made a big difference midway through the set, and the Sabres began to pull ahead, finishing it up by 25-17.  The second set saw the Sabres squad establishing an early lead.  By midpoint, they were beginning to flag, until the Raiders tied it up at 15-15.  From then on it was Raiders almost all the way, and they took the set 25-18, almost the complete opposite of the first set.  The Raiders continued to outperform the Sabres for the first serves of the third set, before the Sabres got it together and with a show of determination took the game back.  At one point the Sabres were ahead 22-10.  Then the Raiders made good on ten serves in a row, a remarkable effort, and it was anybody's game again.  The two squads stayed closely matched, tied at 24-24 before the Sabres managed to score the crucial two points needed for a 26-24 win.  If the Raiders had been less willing to guess at balls going out of bounds that didn't they most likely would have taken the set.

The fourth set was another gem of dynamic volleyball action, with the Sabres again out ahead, slightly.  They were up 7-0 before the Raiders got their game together, a lead the Sabres basically held onto throughout the set, ultimately winning it 25-22, taking the game 3 sets to 1.  All in all it was a very entertaining evening of volleyball, played with determination, teamwork, and good sportsmanship on both sides of the net.

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• JV and SV Dragons Boys vs Willow Creek Cobras

Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

The Willow Creek Composite High School Cobras Boys travelled to St. Michael's Dale Wentz Memorial Gymnasium to face the Dragons on the evening of October 10.

The Senior Volleyball teams took to the court first.  The Dragons took an early lead in the first set,  and hung on strong ending the set up 25-11.  The Dragons served well, and their defensive line were working well together.  The Cobras worked hard during the second set, maintaining a strong lead from the first points until halfway through the game, when the Dragons caught up to tie the set 13-13.  From that point on the Dragons held court on the floor winning the set 25-17.  

In the third set the Cobras tightened their game, but the Dragons hit their stride.  The Dragons maintained a lead throughout the whole set except when the Cobras managed to tie it at 11-11.  The Dragons pulled ahead and worked to make sure that the points swung to their side of the scoreboard, ending the set at 25-22, so the Dragons took the game in three straight.

Junior Varsity action followed, with many of the same players on both teams staying on the court.  This time the Cobras established a lead from the first point scored and hung on throughout the set winning it 17-25.  The second set was the tightest set all night, occasionally having only one point difference between the two teams.  Cobras #2 Wynia was good defense at the net, but the Dragons steamed through the last few points taking the set 25-23.  In the third set the Dragons came on stronger, and established points early on.  Dragon #1 Main, demonstrated that he is working on a solid serve, and Cobra #1 Wenlock, showed a great love of the game, being a good player, teammate and sport, smiling in all 6 sets that he played in the evening.  The Cobras did not gain ground during this set and Dragons won 25-16, taking the night with the best two out of three.

St. Michael's Boys Volleyball Coach Tony Bruder is doing double duty coaching for both the Senior and Junior Varsity squads.  In regards to the JV team he said "Our team has their feet under them.  We always try to play at the level of our opposition.  We're having a pretty good year overall.  We've only lost the one league game.  We shouldn't have lost it, we just played bad.  This next month will be our tell-tale now.  We're getting into playing Ft. MacLeod twice next month, and we are having a couple of good tournaments coming up."  Of both the Senior and the Junior Varsity squads Bruder said  "We're picking up quite a bit."

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• Halton JV and SV Hawks Girls vs Coalhurst Crusaders

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Matthew Halton's JV and SV Volleyball squads hosted their Coalhurst Crusaders counterparts on Thursday evening, October 11.  

The Halton JV squad forfeited their game against the Crusaders due to not having enough players, but with some Seniors helping out they played three exciting sets anyway.  The first set was ultimately the closest, with the Hawks taking an early lead, up 15-6 at one point before the Crusaders rebounded, which they did in a big way, tying it up 20-20.  The Crusaders inched ahead, and then the Sabres tied it up again at 24-24, ultimately winning the set 26-24.  The Hawks had a little bit of trouble sorting out who was going for the ball in the early part of the second set, and it cost them.  They were down by 8 points before getting it together.  Some great decisions at the net made a big difference, and they tied it up at 17-17 before edging ahead to a 25-22 win.  The JV Crusaders were again strong in the beginning plays of the third set, but the Hawks tied it up at 9-9.  It was a very close game until the Crusaders stalled out at 18 points, with the Hawks serving up 6 winning plays to win it, taking all three sets (and still forfeiting the game).  The JV Crusaders put in a valiant effort against a stronger, more experienced team, and everybody seemed to be having a great deal of fun out there.

The SV Hawks and Crusaders were a little more evenly matched, and onlookers were treated to a fair bit of "anyone could win this" action during their sets.  Some great serves and remarkable impulsive saves on the Hawks' side made the difference in the first set.  By midway through the set the Hawks were clearly dominating, and they carried through to a 25-16 win.  The second set was never really in doubt until near the end, with the Crusaders stalled at 12 points.  The Hawks brought it all the way to 24-12 before they had their own run of misses.  The Crusaders got six points in a row before the Hawks finally put it to rest, taking the set 25-18.  The third set saw both teams evening the score several times, at 4-4, 12-12, 13-13, 16-16, until the Hawks decided they really wanted to win it and went on a streak, ultimately taking the set 25-17 and winning three straight.

"I'm just so proud of these girls," said Hawks Coach Tanis French afterwards.  "It was a good confidence boost for us."

French said  the Hawks had been practicing hard, focusing on "Serving really good, and smart plays.  We've been working on seeing the floor before you put the ball where you want to put it, because you should place it where there's nobody.  My favourite plays are when they tip (the ball) and the whole other team comes to the middle and nobody gets the ball."  Coach French also emphasizes having a good time on the court. "They had a lot of fun out there tonight," she said.  Winning or losing, have fun while you're doing it,: she said.  This year Coach French is being ably supported by recent graduate Malorie Goasdoue, who was Matthew Halton School's female athlete of the year for 2011-2012.

The Hawks Girls will be hosting Lundbreck next Monday evening, October 15 at the Matthew Halton School gym, starting at 6 pm.  Next week they are going to Rally Point in Calgary, a special facility built specifically with volleyball in mind.   "That's a really fun place to go because it's a huge stadium where they have four courts on on side of the building and four courts on the other side, so you're playing from court to court to court," said Coach French.  She said the floor was special there too, being quite "springy"

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• St. Michael's JV and Senior Dragons Girls vs Nobleford Blades

Josh Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

On the evening of October 11 the Saint Michael's JV and SV Girls Dragons hosted their Nobleford Blades counterparts at the Dale Wentz Memorial Gymnasium.

The JV sets were all very close, with both teams showing many strengths. The JV Dragons started things off right in the first set, turning an early lead into victory, winning it 25–17. However, early into the second set the Blades picked up their game, earning an early lead of 3 points, which they managed to keep throughout. The Dragons managed to catch up in the second half of the set, but the Blades' lead was simply too large for the Dragons to overcome, and the set ended with the Blades ahead 25–20. The third set of the match was the most tumultuous of the three. From the very beginning, both teams traded the lead, fighting to keep the score even. Near the beginning, the Dragons pulled ahead, eventually earning a substantial lead of 8 points. However, the Blades weren't willing to give up, and fought their way back to the top, winning the set with a score of 25–20, taking the game 2 set to 1.

The Senior Dragons girls fared a little better than their JV counterparts. The sets remained close throughout. Early in the first set the Blades managed to scrape out a slight lead, though the set was still clearly anyone’s at that point. About halfway through, the Dragons managed to tie up the score, and the set remained close, with the lead passing back and forth until the Dragon’s final three points. The Dragons won the set 25–22.  The second set was considerably less close. The Blades succeeded in scoring the first point of the set, but then the Dragons made several phenomenal serves and pulled ahead to win the set 25–17. The third set was much closer than the second, but the Dragons managed to duplicate the final results, pulling ahead halfway through to win the set 25–17, taking all three for the game.