Sherwood Park – With an undefeated championship season hanging in the balance, the Bellerose Bulldogs roared back from the depths of despair to spike the Edmonton Christian Lions in Friday’s volleyball final.
The determined Bulldogs willed their way to a thrilling 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 26-24, 15-8 victory in the metro Edmonton women’s division two playoff.
“It’s amazing! It’s so awesome!” exclaimed co-captain Amanda Bennett during Friday’s post-match celebration at Bev Facey High School. “We came in this year as the underdogs as a young team. We worked really hard throughout the season and it’s just so good to have our hard work finally pay off.”
The first metro banner since winning the 2004 city conference was only the third in Bellerose history.
The Bulldogs were also the metro 2003 premier conference finalists and fourth-place finishers at 4A provincials as the host team.
“To win it this year is really good representation for our school,” Bennett said.
The 12-0 Bulldogs (36 GW/9 GL) also competed in five tournaments and were victorious at Lillian Osborne and Memorial, finished third at Barrhead and were quarter-finalists at the 19th annual Lions Western Canadian Challenge.
Last year the Bulldogs placed first in pool B at 5-1 before an early playoff exit.
“It feels really good from losing quarter-finals last year to coming all the way here. It’s such an improvement,” said co-captain Mikaela Tziklas, a setter who joined Bennett and Leo Funtasz as the only Grade 12s on the 10-player roster.
The final featured the top two pool B teams in league play, with the Bulldogs prevailing in a tight first-place showdown 25-17, 27-25, 23-25, 25-21 Oct. 29 at Bellerose.
“Edmonton Christian is a really good team and today we just worked our hardest and pulled through,” Tziklas said. “When we were down we just wanted it even more.”
The 3A provincial-level Lions (10-2, 33 GW/15 GL) planted the seed of doubt into the Bulldogs early in the marathon affair by winning the first set.
“It was super nerve-wracking because we came in undefeated,” Bennett said. “These girls are really strong and it just ended up really well in our favour.”
The first set was a see-saw battle, as the Bulldogs stacked five points together to lead 17-15, followed by a pair from both teams before the Lions counted four in a row to make it 21-19. The Bulldogs replied with three straight and then the Lions closed it out with a run of four.
“We were a bit nervous at the start but that's normal for our team. It’s good to be nervous,” Tziklas said.
The Bulldogs never trailed in the second set, but struggled to nail down the winning point after building towards a 24-15 advantage. The Lions countered with their longest point run of the set with six before Tziklas surprised the opposition by knocking the ball over the net instead of setting it to a power hitter for the winning point.
The third set was a back-and-forth tilt similar to the opener. The teams combined to knot the score nine times before Alicia Easthope evened it at 18 with a serve that handcuffed the Lions.
It was 20-all when Bennett labelled a shot to the corner of the floor. The Lions replied with strong hits to score five unanswered points to wrap it up.
Down 2-1 after three sets it was now or never for the Bulldogs.
“We just told ourselves to fight for every point and put all your effort towards that one point. You don't focus on the end, just right now, and it paid off,” Bennett said.
It looked grim for the Bulldogs when the Lions rattled off three straight to lead 20-17. After a Bellerose timeout, Easthope pounded the ball for two consecutive points to keep the Bulldogs in contention. Her bid for a third-straight point was denied, as a sprawling Lions’ dig set up a spike to make it 21-19.
It was 23-20 Lions when the Bulldogs moved to within one of the winning point. The run started with a Lions’ serve into the net, followed by Bennett’s smash off a block, a Tziklas’ serve that gave the defending team troubles and Easthope’s hit that stuck in front of the back line.
After the Lions regrouped to tie at 24, Bennett swung into action to register the last two crucial points with powerful hits.
“We wanted it so bad and we weren't going to give up,” Tziklas said of the Bulldogs’ comeback charge.
The fifth set was all Bellerose after a serve out of bounds by the Lions put the Bulldogs ahead to stay at 4-3. Two of their next four points were Bennett serves that the Lions were unable to return.
After the teams switched sides, and with the Bulldogs ahead 8-3, Bennett served up two more points before the Lions recovered to score three straight.
Bennett’s hit off a blocker and Tziklas’ tricky tap over the net for points pushed the Bulldogs closer to victory.
Easthope, arguably the most outstanding Grade 10 player on a St. Albert senior team this year, punished the ball for the 14th point and the championship-clincher as the Bulldogs breathed a sigh of a relief.
“The adrenaline is running through your body when you’re that close to the very end and it just feels really, really good to get that last point,” said Tziklas, 17.
It was fitting the too-close-to-call final was decided in the last set, as the mighty Bulldogs rose to the challenge to complete a season of excellence.
“It was really nerve-wracking but we just fought really hard,” said Bennett, 17, who belted the ball with authority throughout the final. “We played as a team. We played not as individuals but together and it all worked out. It was awesome to win it like we did.”
