Sherwood Park – The St. Albert Skyhawks soared to new heights to win a coveted high school volleyball championship.
The Skyhawks rose to the challenge in the fifth and deciding set against the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles to claim their first city conference banner since 2006 and the fifth in team history in the metro Edmonton league.
"I don't think it was skill because both teams have practiced hard all year. It was just a matter of wanting it more. We were thirsty for that win," declared Grade 12 power Cam Vilcsak during Friday's jubilant post-game celebration at Bev Facey High School.
An overpowering 15-6 effort in the fifth set was the exclamation mark to a stellar season.
"This is awesome," said a grinning Ryan Beztilny, the Skyhawks' captain and power hitter, while clutching the championship trophy. "It's really great to see the team win this for the school and the SACHS program. We're going to celebrate it for sure."
The 13th win in 14 matches was extra special for the handful of Skyhawks in their third and final year on the senior squad.
"This is the payoff for three hard years of work for a lot of us. We've been building towards this," said Beztilny, who joined Vilcsak, Ben Crothers, Roberto Sanchez-Enkerlin and Matthew Hajek as third-year Skyhawks. "It's been an excellent year. The group of guys that we have is remarkable. The work ethic that we've put in over the year was just great."
The veteran-laden Skyhawks were led by six Grade 12s on a roster featuring eight returnees from last year's fourth-place 7-3 finish in league play.
"We really wanted this for the Grade 12s. It's their last season on the team, so we just pretty much let it all hang out and went hard," said Colin Poirier, a right-side Grade 11 Skyhawk. "We're pretty happy to pull it off."
The playoff showdown pitted the top two teams in the conference, separated by a five-set win by the Skyhawks late in the regular season.
"We knew they were going to come out hard because we're both small schools that take our sports pretty seriously, but we were determined to come out on top," Vilcsak said.
The Skyhawks finished what they started in the back-and-forth 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25 affair before sealing the deal in the winner-take-all set.
"We both came out prepared. They really wanted it, but we really, really wanted it," Beztilny stressed. "That fifth set was a crazy one. Oh man, the emotions were just flying."
The Skyhawks came out firing with four straight points on scoring plays by Vilcsak, Nick Cuciz and Poirier before the Eagles tacked up two.
The last three points by the Skyhawks before switching sides were the result of miscues by the Eagles.
It was 8-3 Skyhawks when Beztilny's spike triggered a four-point run. After a timeout by the Eagles, Beztilny's hit was too hot to handle to make it 12-3.
After a couple of points by the Eagles cut the deficit to seven, a tricky tap by Beztilny for the team's 13th point brought the Skyhawks' fans to their feet in anticipation of victory.
"We came out with some great intensity and put them away early," Beztilny said of the team's 41st win in 52 sets in conference play. "The main thing was we were talking throughout the entire set. We noticed all year we play way better when we talked so that was really good to see."
The Skyhawks drew first blood in the opening set with a solid, workmanlike performance.
The Eagles, last year's city finalists, rebounded in the next set and ended it with four consecutive points to even the match. Three times they tied the score after the Skyhawks clawed their way back into contention at 20-19 with Vilcsak and six-foot-six Levi Constantin doing most of the damage at the net.
In the third set the Skyhawks grabbed the early lead and never let it slip away.
Key points down the stretch by Hugh Scott Miller (block), Dylan Brown (serve), Vilcsak (spike), and Sanchez-Enkerlin (spike) lifted the Skyhawks back into the lead.
However the Skyhawks were unable to battle back from a slow start in the fourth set despite a late rally.
"It was a pretty good game. Our passing was kind of slacking but we pulled it through at the end. Our hitting and offence was rolling pretty well throughout the whole thing and that helped us out a lot," Poirier said.
3A zones
On tap next for the Skyhawks is the 3A zone tournament this weekend at the Louis St. Laurent and Holy Trinity high schools. Two teams advance to provincials next weekend in Whitecourt.
"Our goal is a provincial title and this championship is another stepping stone. It's really a good kick to keep us going," said Beztilny, 17.
The Skyhawks are seeded fourth in the eight-team draw as the No. 1 city conference team. The top three teams hail from the premier conference: Louis St. Laurent, Holy Trinity and Ardrossan.
"Since we won I think a lot of teams will realize that we really came out to play this year and should get a better spot in the draw," said Poirier, 16.
The Skyhawks play their pool B matches Friday at Holy Trinity against the sixth seeded St. Peter the Apostle Spartans of Spruce Grove at 3 p.m., second-seeded Holy Trinity at 4:15 p.m. and eighth-seeded Old Scona at 8 p.m.
Louis St. Laurent hosts the pool A matches and Saturday's crossover playoffs involving the top three teams in both pools. The semifinals are 12:15 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. and the final is 3 p.m.
"Zones will be awesome because when you play after a win it's just that much better and easier," said Vilcsak, 17. "We definitely have a good chance of getting through zones and head over to provincials. The teams that we are playing for the 3A title we've played throughout the year and every team we find is pretty much beatable if we play them the right way."
