It was a long season with many bumps and spikes along the way, but the Lakeland Sharks U16 club volleyball team can look back at this season as the best in team history.
The Sharks wrapped up the strong season with a valiant effort to take the division IV national championship in Calgary, May 21-23.
“This is the best Sharks team, in terms of results, we’ve ever had,” said head coach Tyler Collins. “We got silver, won gold, placed fourth and now we’re national champions.
“This was a great success. The girls came a long way in a short period of time … I’m really proud of them.”
But the success didn’t come easy for the Sharks. In fact, the team was struggling coming into nationals after finishing provincials in 13th place.
The tough times continued into nationals, as the Sharks struggled in day one, picking up one win and losing twice.
“We were having a tough couple of weeks and that first day put us further down,” Collins explained.
The two losses relegated the Sharks to division IV and left the girls in dismay and uncertain about their chances at a championship.
“After day one we held a state of the union meeting,” said Collins. “We told each other we’re not going to let what happened to us at provincials go again.”
Collins then took his players on a trip to the zoo to clear their minds.
“We came back the next day a little more focused.”
The Sharks won two games and lost one on Sunday, placing them in second heading into playoffs and the final day of the tournament.
Collins said the competition was taken up a notch but that his Sharks were up for the challenge.
The Sharks won back-to-back games early Monday morning before beating Cochrane in the semi-finals later that afternoon.
Momentum was building and the Sharks carried it into the finals, dominating Raven’s Rage out of Stony Plain to take the championship.
“We got on them really early and then it was just a matter of us playing it out until the end,” explained Collins.
“The girls were beside themselves. They will remember this for a long, long time.”
Collins believes the U18 Sharks team will be strong next season, with several players moving up from his U16 squad.
But he said he is still excited for the young team he will help develop next season.
“We will have a very new team next year. It’s exciting. It’s a good thing and a chance to renew yourself.”
He also mentioned the possibility of having a U14 Sharks team next season.
“We have a coach lined up and it’s almost 95 per cent going to happen. Now we just have some recruiting in the fall to do.”
