WESTLOCK — Both of the R.F. Staples School junior high Tier 1 teams recently won gold medals at the St. Albert Physical Education Council’s (SAPEC) annual volleyball tournament on Sept. 22-23, marking the school’s first victory at this tournament in at least 15 years of competition.
On the boys’ side, coach Jessica Stevens said the Westlock team placed first in the round robin, then defeated Camilla School in the first round of playoffs.
Over the next three rounds of playoffs, the R.F. junior high boys faced off with three St. Albert teams they had faced in previous tournaments and lost against — Vincent J. Maloney in the quarter-final, École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d’Youville (ESSMY) in the semi-final and the Hillgrove Griffins in the championship final.
The hardest match-up was in the semi-final, which ended up going to three sets. In all three cases, however, the R.F. junior boys emerged victorious.
Going into the tournament, Stevens said, "I was hoping we would do well, but was not sure we would finish that high.”
It’s worth noting that even prior to the SAPEC tournament, the junior high boys have had a very successful season so far.
On Sept. 16, they competed at a Morinville tournament where they earned a silver medal. They then went on to place third out of 11 teams at a University of Alberta tournament on Sept. 17.
Stevens said they did a lot of goal setting at the start of the year and they’ve been able to achieve a lot of those goals.
Girls results
On the girls’ side, coach Ainsley Hartzell said the Westlock team started out strong in the round robin, losing only one match versus the Vincent J. Maloney Marauders, with whom they had split sets during the previous week’s U of A tournament.
Placing second in their pool, they came out of the gates aggressively, ending up on the ‘A’ side of the tournament after their crossover game, she said.
In the quarter-finals, they won in three sets to the WD Cuts Crusaders, then took the Hillgrove Griffins in two sets during the semi-finals.
That put them in the final versus the Lorne Akins Gators. Hartzell said they won the first set, but the Gators won the second set after putting up an “exceptional defence.”
The third set was also hard-fought, with the Gators maintaining that exceptional defence, but the Westlock girls’ aggressive play and smart ball placement won them the game.
“I am extremely proud of how my girls played over the course of the weekend,” Hartzell said. “The girls on the team have only ever played one system, and I made the decision to transition them to a different system this season … in the interest of progressing them for club season and eventually high school.”
Hartzell said they introduced the girls to the new system on Sept. 19 and they practiced it once on Sept. 21 before heading into the tournament.
“From the beginning of the tournament, I saw growth each game,” she said. “My goal for them that weekend was strictly to have them learn the system while in play, and the wins were just a bonus. It was more about the process for me this weekend.”
Prior to the SAPEC tournament, the Tier 1 girls placed fourth at the U of A tournament the Tier 1 boys also attended Sept. 17.
“I have a team of hard-working girls who clearly love this game and want to progress. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to coach them,” Hartzell added.
