Strathcona Composite – The St. Albert Skyhawks will have to wait until next year to make school history in women’s volleyball after losing Saturday’s metro Edmonton final.
The 3A provincial medal contenders fell short in a five-set showdown against the Jasper Place Rebels and the first division one/premier championship within reach for the St. Albert Catholic High School team.
“We’re div one and we’re such a small school and tonight we had our chance to show who we are in the 3A provincials,” said Grade 12 setter Jamie Bain after the Skyhawks’ 14-match winning streak ended.
“It would be cool to go a whole season undefeated.”
The Skyhawks (14-1, 44 GW/15 GL) dominated the opening 25-9 set but then dropped two in a row by the slimmest of margins before forcing a deciding set with a 25-21 score.
In the race to 15, the Skyhawks struggled early and trailed by four when the teams switched sides. Down 12-6 the Skyhawks started rolling and outscored the Rebels 5-1 before eventually losing by four.
“We came out really strong and as the sets went on we started making some mistakes,” said Bain, wearing the captain’s stripe in the final.
In the first set, Alexis Anderson injured her left ankle during a play at the net on the second rally and the loss of the Grade 12 middle left the short-staffed Skyhawks with only one healthy player on the bench.
Runs of seven and five points gave the Skyhawks a big boost for a commanding 18-5 lead in the set. Strong defensive plays, timely hits for points and a stretch of consistent serves put the Skyhawks on top.
The Rebels (12-3, 41 GW/17 GL) roared back for victories of 25-23 and 25-21.
“They definitely didn’t play good in the first set but they came back swinging,” Bain said of the team the Skyhawks beat in five sets Sept. 30 in St. Albert to start the season off at 3-0.
The Rebels held the upper hand early in the second set before the Skyhawks clawed their way back for a brief 10-9 advantage behind Bain’s serving. Kacey Jost’s point off a block evened it at nine.
The Rebels then outscored the Skyhawks 9-1 on the strength of a five-point run to make it 18-11.
The Skyhawks were forced to play catch-up again and Lauren Cardinal’s point off a block closed the gap to 20-19 before the Rebels recovered to take the set.
In the third set, the teams basically traded points and the longest run was four by the Rebels twice for leads of 21-20 and the 25-21 clincher. At one stage the Skyhawks were in front 20-17 before the Rebels got rolling. After a team timeout Jost’s spike knotted it at 21.
The Skyhawks scored first in the fourth set and never relinquished the lead as Jost, Cardinal and Julia Donnelly spearheaded the hit attack.
“We definitely fought on to win that set in the fourth,” Bain said.
The Rebels recovered in the last set by picking spots on the floor for most of their points. It was 12-6 when Donnelly scored consecutive points off blocks. After the Skyhawks pulled to within two the Rebels recorded their 14th point with furious action in tight of the net and the championship winner was a serve that landed just in front of the back line.
“In the last set, we really fought for it but I guess it didn’t fall our way,” Bain said.
The Skyhawks will now focus on provincials, Nov. 26 to 28 at Bonnyville, after competing in a rare senior women’s volleyball final since the formation of the metro league in 1988/89. They were crowned city conference/division two champions in 1997 and 2001.
The last two years, the Skyhawks qualified for provincials through the 3A metro zone tournament. There is no women’s zones this year because the Skyhawks received an automatic berth at provincials as the metro reps by reaching the division one final.
At provincials, the Skyhawks finished fifth last year in Cochrane and were silver medallists at the 2013 competition at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
Bain and Donnelly, a power hitter and co-captain, are the only third-year players on the roster from the first lady Skyhawks’ team to compete at provincials.
“We definitely have different aspects but I don’t know if we’re better than that team,” said Bain, 17. “But I definitely think we have a chance to get at that banner again.”
