The Mallaig and St. Paul Regional senior boys and senior girls volleyball teams are provincials bound.
The Mallaig and St. Paul Regional senior boys and senior girls volleyball teams are provincials bound.
This invitation to attend the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association Volleyball Championship, being held Thursday to Saturday, was earned as a result of each of these four school teams earning a championship banner from the specific Northeast Alberta Schools' Athletic Association (NEASAA) Zone Championship that it attended.
The Regional boys and girls' teams were competing in the zone championship for 3A schools. The tournaments were hosted at Cold Lake High School this past weekend. The Mallaig boys' team was at Two Hills School competing in the zone tournament for 1A schools, and the Mallaig 1A girls' tournament was hosted at école Beaus éjour in Bonnyville.
The team participated in a seven team round robin.
At the completion of the six matches the St. Paul boys earned a perfect 6-0 record and first place in the standings. Regional matched up against fourth place Holy Trinity in the semi-final. Regional won the matchup in two sets.
“The guys were nervous to play their first elimination game, but after securing the first set they relaxed and were able to win the second set,&” wrote head coach Alex Bernier in an email to the Journal.
In the zone final the Saints matched up against Westwood. Regional eked out a narrow 29-27 win in the first set and then secured the gold medal and NEASAA banner by downing the Fort McMurray school 25-19 in the second set.
“In the zone final, our boys played very hard and were hitting and blocking very well,&” wrote Bernier. “We had great passing in the back row and our setter worked very hard to put the ball in a position for our hitters to get the kills we needed. On to provincials.&”
The team will head to Grande Prairie to battle for the provincial title. Peace Wapiti Academy is the host school.
The Saints participated in an eight-team round robin to start the tournament.
St. Paul ended up rolling through this stage with ease as the team earned a 3-0 record to finish first place in their pool.
Finishing first in their pool granted the Saints a bye into the semi-final round. In that round they matched up against Father Mercedi. Regional handled their opponent in two sets, 25-15 and 25-15.
The Saints were even more dominant in the final against Holy Rosary in the final. They took down the Lloydminster team in two sets 25-6 and 25-13.
In an email to the Journal, the team's head coach Hank Smid said, “We just completed controlled the match. These moments in sport do not happen so often, our team was very aggressive and went after their strongest players. Our opponent was not able to respond, they did not give up as they fought back but they were unable to put any type of counter attack together. They could do no wrong, it was probably one of the best offensive and defensive displays by our team while playing a strong opponent in years.&”
The coach outlined confidence as a factor in his team having the tournament they did. He said the team's coaching staff encouraged the players to “be quietly confident in their abilities and let their skills speak for themselves.&”
The Saints will compete at the ASAA High School 3A Girls Volleyball Championship in Bonnyville this weekend.
St. Paul Regional managed to accomplish a terrific feat by both schools advancing to provincials. According to Smid, this is only the second time both school teams have qualified for provincials in the same year. The only other time this has happened was in 1972.
The Mallaig boys' team was in competition against seven other teams at zones this past weekend.
Like both Regional teams, the Mallaig boys ended up breezing through the round robin stage with ease by collecting a perfect 3-0 record.
The team matched up against Two Hills School in the semi-final. Two Hills mounted a stiff challenge but the Stingers were able to outlast their opponent and advance to the final in a three-set victory.
They faced off against St. Jerome's Catholic School (Vermilion) in the zone final. St. Jerome's got the better of Mallaig in an extraordinary set that had a final score of 38-36.
“I have never seen a game that went that far,&” said Brad Tillapaugh, the head coach of the Stingers. “Both teams continued to battle and as the score kept getting higher the intensity on both sides increased. It was incredible to watch. When you watch a game that goes like that, I don't think you can say any team lost.&”
Mallaig rebounded with a 25-19 win in the second set to force a tie-breaking third game. The Stingers ultimately edged the Spartans 15-11.
Tillapaugh wrote that the consistent game his team played throughout the weekend led to success.
“Our passing was done well all weekend and when we pass well we attack well.&”
The coach also outlined the crowd support for the team as being a factor in helping the Stingers do well. The Stingers will travel to Falher to participate in the 1A provincial tournament, which is being hosted by école H éritage School.
The Stinger girls vied for the zone title against nine other teams.
Mallaig earned a 4-0 record and first place in its pool by earning two-set victories each team it faced. The Stingers marched into the semi-final against école des Beaux-Lacs. The Bonnyville school pushed hard but Mallaig managed to get by in the third set. The score of that third set was 15-13. Mallaig trailed 10-6 at one point during that decisive set.
This would not be the first time in this tournament that the Stingers had to be resilient.
After dropping the first set of the final to St. Jerome's School 25-22, the Stingers were in a precarious position being down 24-19 in the second set. Mallaig managed to fight off the numerous match-winning chances for the Spartans and earn the win in the second set 27-25. Mallaig won 15-13 in the tie breaking set to earn the invitation to provincials.
Stingers coach Ian MacGillivray lauded his team's defence.
“We played some incredible defence throughout the whole tournament. It was simply amazing some of the saves that the girls were making.&”
As for his team's tremendous resilience, the coach said the staff has preached to the players about the importance of being resilient throughout the season.
“All season long we have been focusing on staying in the point and not allowing ourselves to quit until the match is over. The girls have done a really good job learning that lesson.&”
The Stingers will travel to Fairview for provincials.
