The Paul Kane Blues have a score to settle in Monday’s volleyball playoff.
Paul Kane hosts the St. Peter the Apostle Spartans, the only team to beat the 7-1 Blues in league play, in Monday’s division two semifinal at 5 p.m.
“It was a five-set game so it was close, but if we play our game like we know how to then definitely we’ll come back with a win over them,” said co-captain Cam Edwards on the Oct. 17 loss in Spruce Grove.
Scores were 17-25, 30-28, 25-18, 22-15, 15-13 for the Spartans (7-2).
“We had quite a bit of missed serves in the five sets and it came down to just those key points missed that allowed them to get up on us,” said co-captain Landon Bishop.
Paul Kane went on to place first in pool A and the Spartans finished tied for second with the Bellerose Bulldogs.
“Our bonding as a team has grown stronger since then and we’ll be more prepared and eager to pull out a win in that game,” Bishop said.
The winner advances to the metro Edmonton final against Bellerose (6-2) or the Archbishop MacDonald Marauders (6-3) Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Memorial Composite High School in Stony Plain.
Paul Kane has never won a senior men’s volleyball banner since the formation of the metro league in 1988/89 and the last time the Blues celebrated a volleyball championship was 2011 by the senior women in the premier conference.
“I would love to make the final. I know we haven’t made a final in volleyball for quite some time, we’re a football and basketball based school, so to show that we have other school sports that are pretty competitive, like top tier compared to other schools, that would be great,” said Bishop.
The Grade 12 left-side player and Edwards, a Grade 12 setter, are third-year Blues on the senior roster.
“In Grade 10 we were in div one and it was a little hard back then playing against a couple of those bigger teams and bigger players but last year we had the potential but the team chemistry just wasn’t there,” said Edwards of the 9-3 division two Blues that bowed out in the quarter-finals 3-2 to the Louis St. Laurent Barons, the eventual champions. “This year you can just feel things kind of gelling and the team is really playing well together. Everything is just working this year so it’s exciting to be part of that.
“Everything is there for a championship this year.”
Paul Kane is carrying eight Grade 12s, including one injured player out for the season, on the 12-man roster and the majority are junior high products of the volleyball factory at Lorne Akins School.
The only Grade 10 on the team is Jack MacPherson, a lanky middle from Sir George Simpson.
“He has quite the advantage over some players due to his height,” Bishop said.
So far Paul Kane is a mighty 29-7 overall in league and tournaments.
“We’ve exceeded many people’s expectations,” Bishop said. “This year’s team excels more at defence than last year’s team but our offensive capabilities are similar to last year’s team.
“I believe our success comes from our offence mainly. We have a lot of experienced players from the club season and when we consistently give them the ball we kind of go on runs which allows us to get up on teams quickly. We’re also a very good blocking and defensive team so that always adds to the offence.”
Paul Kane’s success starts with defence, according to Edwards.
“We’re working on pushing the ball a little bit quicker but it’s mostly the defence that has really helped,” he said. “We work really hard on picking up balls, digging balls off hits and then getting the offensive speed going.”
The last match for Paul Kane was Wednesday’s 25-19, 25-16, 25-17 quarter-final sweep of the St. Francis Xavier Rams (4-5).
“We just played Paul Kane volleyball and came out with the win,” Edwards said. “We played our game and did what we’re used to. We didn’t really change anything too much. We kept the same mind-set.”
Bishop, 17, described the outcome as another typical performance by the team.
“We played petty well offensively on the wings and through the middle and we also played some pretty good defence here and there,” he said. “We could do a little bit of touching up but that will come during the weekend (in Red Deer) when we play some better competition and hopefully improve our game for our semifinal on Monday.”
Paul Kane is coming off a first-place showing at the Memorial tournament last weekend without dropping a set after placing third in Ardrossan, second in Sherwood Park and at the 22nd annual Lions Western Canadian Challenge lost a tight three-set quarter-final tussle to the first-place Morinville Wolves, the same team the Blues beat in Sherwood Park.
The Red Deer tournament will feature some of the top division one teams in the province.
“Playing against a little bit of tougher competition will definitely help us out and improve our game for Monday’s match,” said Edwards, 17.
