Sabres Girls host RCMP for an evening of volleyball

Josh Davis

On Tuesday evening November 10 Livingstone's Sabres JV and SV Girls hosted Crowsnest RCMP members for some off-the-cuff post-season volleyball. The Sabres demonstrated high energy, and each set was close, but the RCMP won each of four sets played.

The RCMP team was a little rusty at the outset, and the Sabres squad earned a slight lead in the beginning of the first set. However, the RCMP caught them up, gaining their own slight lead. There were good rallies from both teams. The Sabres stayed close, but were defeated 25-19.

The RCMP team may have been out of practice, but they were in great shape physically, and used their height advantage to make successful attacks and blocks. They traded evenly with the Sabres throughout the second set, gaining a slight lead in the second half and winning 25-23.

Now warmed up, the RCMP took a slight lead early in the third set, and defended it throughout. The Sabres were demonstrating excellent teamwork and good fundamentals, but the RCMP’s size advantage proved formidable. The RCMP won the third set 25-18.

After three brisk sets both teams were beginning to tire, but they resisted a rest and continued with a fourth and final set.  Both teams traded evenly for the first few points. The RCMP gained a slight lead, but the Sabres were determined and stayed close. However, the RCMP arrested them at ten points, and by the time they started scoring again they were too far behind. The RCMP won this set 25-16.

"We were just talking with somebody, and they mentioned that they had a volleyball team up here, so we just thought we'd get a team together and see if we could play with them," said Constable Kevin Jarrett when asked how the idea came about. "It was great. It was awesome. We're doing it again on the 18th in the Crowsnest Pass with the girls teams there. Its tough to get enough people together, but we had a good turnout, so its good." Constable Jarrett said he has been playing volleyball for about ten years, dating back to a time when he lived in the Northwest Territories. He explained that if an emergency had happened, they would have been called away from the game, "But we would have rescheduled."

Sabres socks

A tight-knit team

The Junior Girls Sabres had a great season, finishing fourth in their league.

A tip of the hat to SV/JV Girls coaches Dawn Heerschap and Anne Molnar, who grew (figuratively) almost as much as their charges over the last two volleyball seasons.

The Senior Boys Sabres will be competing in the Zones tournament at Lethbridge College this weekend.