It took the Paul Kane Blues longer than expected to tame the Bellerose Bulldogs in high school women's volleyball Monday.
The 6-1 Blues, the defending metro Edmonton premier league champions, weren't expected to have much difficulty with the now 1-6 Bulldogs, but found themselves deadlocked after two sets of their Monday match.
Paul Kane regrouped after dropping the second set and blazed to a 25-16, 23-25, 25-9, 25-20 home-court triumph.
"We started off kind of slow, but then we really got into it," said Maddi Agius, a dangerous Grade 12 power hitter. "We just pushed harder at the end to beat them."
"We came into the match as the underdog but we fought really, really hard and played really well as a team," said Bellerose captain Sam Mickelsen, who scored the set-clinching point to tie the match 1-1. "We played fantastic in the first and second sets. In the third set our energy really, really dropped. It was kind of a momentum killer. Otherwise it was really close between both teams."
The Blues have lost only five of 25 games in the premier, but Agius said they have to learn to finish off the sets.
"That's where we've failed sometimes. We're up high and then the team catches up to us and then they win. We just have to push that extra little bit."
The second set was their only downfall against the resilient Bulldogs. They let several leads slip away and were unable to string together long point runs.
"I don't know what we were doing. It was really weird. We were just playing slow. Our team sometimes gets into slumps like that," said Agius, who watched the second set unfold from the bench. "After that we were really angry. Our coach gave us a pep talk and we were like, 'OK, let's go get them. Let's do this.'"
The Bulldogs hung tough against the Blues until the decisive third set. Agius and Whitney Follette racked up most of the points while the Blues posted leads of 10-1, 15-2 and 18-3 en route to the lopsided decision. Agius, Jordan Greco and Michaela Ouimet also gave the Bulldogs fits with their serves.
In the fourth set the Blues were always a point or two ahead until a run of five made it 24-18. Follette recorded the last five points for the Blues with punishing hits. The six-foot-two Grade 12 middle dominated the Bulldogs with massive kills, crushing blocks and sharp serves throughout the match.
"Whitney, with her six-foot-long arms, is awesome but it wasn't just her today. It was the powers. They were hitting cross and line and our defence had a hard time adjusting to that," Mickelsen said.
Improved play
Mickelsen said every match is a learning experience for the Bulldogs.
"We're really adjusting to the teams we're playing. We're learning to serve really, really hard and we're really working on our swing and mixing up our offence," said the third-year Bulldog.
Mickelsen, 17, is the only player remaining from the senior team's 10th-place finish at the 4A provincials in 2009. The current line-up of Bulldogs includes six Grade 12s, three Grade 11s and one Grade 10 player.
"We've only won one game [in premier] but we've played pretty well, especially in tournaments. We're growing as a team and that is the most important thing," Mickelsen said.
Tonight at 6:15 p.m. the Bulldogs play the St. Albert Skyhawks (5-2) at the SkyDome. A trio of Skyhawks were spotted scouting the Bulldogs at Paul Kane.
It's the last match for both teams before the start of the 17th annual Lions Western Canadian Challenge, hosted by Morinville Community High School, Bellerose and St. Albert High. Matches are also scheduled for Vincent J. Maloney School and Georges H. Primeau School.
"We're so excited about the WCC. It's exciting to be one of the host schools, but we've still got to play our rivals from St. Albert High first. That's going to be a big game," Mickelsen said.
Provincially ranked
The Blues, winners of the last two WCC tournaments, are not competing this weekend. Their last tournament was at Notre Dame in Red Deer over the weekend where they lost in the semifinals to William Aberhart of Calgary
"Last year we won lots of tournaments but at the same time the teams in the tournaments weren't as strong. This time we've really challenged ourselves with the tournaments we've entered and we've pushed ourselves harder," said Agius.
The five-foot-seven outside threat is among five returnees from last year's eighth-place effort at the 4A provincials.
"Lots of people think we haven't done as well as last year but I think we're almost better," said Agius, 17. "We've definitely got better on defence this year. We've been able to push ourselves against good teams, too. We've had some good matches against some really good teams and it's made us even better."
In the 4A provincial rankings the Blues and Sir Winston Churchill of Calgary are tied for third place. The Blues are the top metro team and the second-highest ranked Edmonton zone rep behind No. 1 ranked Strathcona Composite. Western Canada of Calgary is second.
Tonight the Blues play the Marauders (4-3) at 6:15 p.m. at Archbishop MacDonald High School.
