Austin O’Brien High School – The 14th straight win by the Bellerose Bulldogs was the best of the bunch in high school volleyball.
The junior girls completed their season of excellence with a riveting five-set rollercoaster victory against the Ardrossan Bisons in Saturday’s city conference final.
“It’s so awesome. We’re unbelievably happy,” Bellerose captain Katie Allen said with a massive grin while clutching the first metro Edmonton junior volleyball championship trophy in school history.
“It’s amazing. It means a lot. It’s a such a big success,” added an equally excited Jordan Hodge. “It also felt great to beat every team this year.”
The Grade 10 power served the championship winning point in the deciding set as the Bulldogs wrapped up a memorable 25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 14-25, 15-10 playoff triumph.
“It was so intense,” Hodge said. “We had ups and down in this game. It kept going back and forth until the very end.”
The Bulldogs beat the same team that knocked them off in four sets in the league opener.
“It was our first game and we were really nervous. We were new as a team. The team [was finalized] basically that week,” said Allen, a Grade 11 right-side fixture for the 14-1 Bulldogs (43 GW/15 GL). “Once we got the nerves out that game, we did really good and we started winning.”
The Bisons finished 11-4 (39 GW/18 GL) overall as the third playoff seed in the conference.
“They’re a really good team and congrats to them; they deserve to be here, too,” Allen said. “They’re a good tipping team and they play with lots of strategy. What we did was pick out their players to watch out for. We also dug well, hit the floor hard and went for every ball we could.”
The Bulldogs dominated the first set with consistent hitting, rock-solid defence and strong serves.
They fell behind early in the next set before pulling ahead 13-12. The Bisons regained the lead by outscoring the Bulldogs 7-1. After a Bellerose timeout, the Bulldogs roared back in front as Amanda Dunnigan’s serve made it 21-20. It was 22-21 Bisons when the Bulldogs tied it off a block. A tricky play at the net by Allen produced the go-ahead point. The Bisons rallied with three straight, with the last two points coming off strong serves.
In the third set the Bulldogs busted loose with a 9-1 start and kept piling up the points en route to a 16-6 advantage. It was 18-10 when Allen turned in a defensive gem to keep the ball alive while flying out of bounds. Her clutch play sent the ball over the net and it landed on the floor with a thud as the startled Bisons looked on in disbelief. They never recovered as the Bulldogs closed out the set with several points off Bisons errors.
The Bulldogs lost the services of Dunnigan for a spell after suffering an ankle injury during a long rally that generated a point for the Bisons to trim the lead to 22-14 in the third set. Dunnigan had to be helped to the bench, where she received medical attention from the team’s trainers. Kristy Veenbaas, the only sub dressed for the final, filled in for Dunnigan, who eventually made her way back to the court for the final outcome.
In a wild turn of events, the Bisons beat up the Bulldogs in the fourth set, highlighted by a 9-1 point run to make it 20-8.
“After we lost that set we had to keep our energy up and keep going otherwise we would’ve lost it,” said Hodge, 15.
In the deciding set the Bulldogs kept their wits intact while gradually racking up the points to lead 8-5 at the halfway mark. After switching sides, Cathy Grant’s serve was unreturnable for the ninth point. On the next play, Allen tapped the ball down after the Bisons struggled to return Grant’s serve. It was 11-9, when Hodge ended a long rally with a well-placed ball that was difficult for the Bisons to dig. Leading by two, the Bulldogs ended the suspense with a pair of points on Bisons miscues before Hodge sealed the deal from the service line.
“The key was just staying positive. When our one girl got hurt it shook us up but we just tried to stay positive. We shook off our mistakes and come together as a team again,” said Allen, 16. “We just fought back hard and that’s what we did all year long.”
