The Bellerose Bulldogs surprised themselves by going undefeated for a shot at a rare volleyball championship.
Friday the lady Bulldogs played the Edmonton Christian Lions in the metro Edmonton division two final, but the score was unavailable at press time from Bev Facey High School.
“We didn't expect this to happen,” said Mikaela Tziklas, captain of the 11-0 Bulldogs, after Thursday’s semifinal win over the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles at Bellerose Composite High School. “We never expected to come this far, especially after last year when we lost in the quarter-finals.”
Since the formation of the metro high school association in 1988, the Bulldogs won city conference banners in 2002 and 2004 and were premier conference finalists and fourth-place finishers at 4A provincials as the host team in 2003.
“In past years we haven't really done well so it’s the first year we’ve kind of made it this far and it’s really exciting,” said Tziklas, a Grade 12 setter.
A season to remember included 33 sets won and only seven sets lost during the team’s undefeated run to the final.
“It’s been a great year. We’re a very young team and we’ve just tried our best all year and played the best we could. We’ve had some hard games and we’ve played against some pretty good teams and this is a great way to finish it,” said Alicia Easthope, a Grade 10 standout at power.
Easthope, 15, credits a diligent defence for the team’s success.
“We’re a cohesive group. We’re always working together and that’s why our defence works so well. We know where everyone is on the court at all times so everyone is always there to cover another person,” she said. “We just work as hard as we can for every point.”
It didn’t take the Bulldogs long to realize what was at stake Friday after polishing off the Eagles, a 2A provincial-level team, 25-23, 25-23, 13-25, 25-14.
“There is pressure because we haven't lost yet and if we win then we have an undefeated season and that would be wonderful,” Easthope said.
“It’s important not to be too confident because you don’t want to go into it thinking you’re going to win,” added Tziklas, 17.
The Lions (10-1, 31 GW/12 GL) placed second in pool B after the Bulldogs won the first-place showdown 25-17, 27-25, 23-25, 25-21 on Oct. 29 at Bellerose.
“They were a very strong defence team. They get everything up,” said Easthope of the 3A Lions. “In the end it was whoever had the better game and in that game we just played a little bit better than they did.”
In the semifinal the Sherwood Park-based Eagles (7-4, 27 GW/19 GL), a pool A team, were not much of a serious threat for Bulldogs, who took a breather in the third set before returning to form to finish off the win.
“It was a pretty standard game for us but we still have more to give as always,” said Easthope, who racked up a ton of points on the strength of her accurate hits. “We still had to play very well to beat that team. They were very skilled.”
