The first match for the St. Albert Skyhawks at the 3A provincial women’s volleyball tournament was against the team they beat in the 2015 final.
Thursday’s pool A opener in the 12-team draw at Camrose was 26-24, 19-25, 15-8 for the St. Joseph Ceniahs of Grande Prairie, ranked No. 1 at provincials.
The Skyhawks also lost to St. Joseph at the University of Alberta pre-season tournament and in the final of the 22nd annual Lions Western Canadian Challenge, 25-10, 19-25, 10-15 at the SkyDome.
Last year the Skyhawks swept St. Joseph in two sets in the provincial final at Bonnyville.
Friday’s matches for the No. 9 Skyhawks were against the No. 8 Barrhead Gryphons, No. 4 Innisfail Cyclones and No. 5 Springbank Phoenix but scores were unavailable at press time.
Pool play ends today for the Skyhawks against the No. 12 W.R. Myers Rebels of Taber at 11 a.m.
The top three teams in the A and B pools qualify for the playoffs and the medal finals are 6:45 p.m.
The Skyhawks entered provincials with records of 5-2 in the metro Edmonton division one league and 5-0 at zones as the second Edmonton reps in the tournament.
The pool B teams are the No. 2 Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles, the division one finalists as the top Edmonton rep, No. 3 Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Clippers, No. 6 St. Paul Saints, No. 7 Bearspaw Christian Grizzlies of Calgary, No. 10 Peace Wapiti Academy Titans of Grande Prairie and the No. 11 Camrose Trojans.
Tournament results are available on the 3A provincial website at www.asaa.ca.
Quinn Olson of St. Albert was the fastest motorcycle drag racer when it counted the most at the recent National Hot Rod Association Division 7 Finals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Quinn’s best time of the weekend on the Old’s Kool Racing sponsored machine was 7.423 seconds (178.71) in the final round to beat Arizona’s Bill Bentz for the Pro Fuel Harley division title.
Bentz’s time was 7.510 (175.78).
The competition featured several of the top Canadian and American racers.
Olson started off the Canadian Motorcycle Drag Racing Association Points Series with victories at Spring Nationals in Medicine Hat and Summer Nationals in Rimbey.
This is Olson’s second year with a license on nitro Harleys.
The St. Albert Blaze were too hot to handle at the 29th annual Nepean Ringette Tournament last weekend in Ontario.
The U14A tweens posted scores of 1-1 against Waterloo, 6-0 against Dorchester, 4-1 against Nepean, 6-0 against Guelph, 5-1 against Nepean in the semifinals and 7-2 against Sudbury in the final to finish undefeated.
The Blaze also won a pre-tournament game 5-3 against Metcalfe.
Last month the Blaze were finalists at the St. Albert Turkey Ring and Beaumont Brass Ring tournaments
The Blaze are 15-4-1, including a 6-0 mark in league play, when they play the second-place Sherwood Park U14A team in Riviere Qui Barre tonight at 7:15 p.m.
The four losses for the Blaze include two against Medicine Hat at the Turkey Ring and two against Calgary Bowview in Beaumont.
The next tournament is the 31st annual Esso Golden Ring, Jan. 13 to 17 in Calgary.
The high school basketball season tips off Thursday for St. Albert teams at the Mike Dea Classic and Totem Hoop Classic.
The 19th annual Mike Dea tournament at St. Francis Xavier High School features the Bellerose Bulldogs in the men’s division and the Paul Kane Blues in the women’s division.
The 24th annual Totem tournament at Ross Sheppard High School includes the Paul Kane men and the St. Albert Skyhawks in the women’s division.
Additional information about the Mike Dea and Totem tournaments will appear in Wednesday’s edition.
Paul Kane and the Skyhawks are also entered in the women’s draw of the 35th annual REB Invitational, Dec. 15 to 17 at Jasper Place High School.
Meanwhile, the Paul Kane Classic is Jan. 13-14 and the eight-team women’s draw consists of the Jasper Place Rebels, Spruce Grove Panthers, Bishop Grandin Ghosts of Calgary, Centennial Coyotes of Calgary, Catholic Central Cougars of Lethbridge, Medicine Hat Kwahommies and the Skyhawks and the host Blues.
League play for metro Edmonton teams starts next month but no schedules have been released.
In senior women’s ranks, Paul Kane and the Skyhawks are in division one and the Bellerose is in division three.
The Paul Kane, Skyhawks and Bellerose senior men’s teams will hoop it up in division two in the same pool.
