Strathmore earn bronze at home

Times Reporter 

 

After beating Canmore, Cochrane, Bow Valley, and Brooks in pool play, the Strathmore High School (SHS) Spartans boys’ volleyball team finished at the top of their pool while hosting zones from Nov. 15-16. Their 4-0 record allowed them to have a bye into the semi-finals against George McDugall.

McDugall’s quarter final, however, was a rematch of their league final – after their win, McDugalls’ emotions ran high and conquered Strathmore’s power from the crowd. SHS fell 25-15, 25-23 in the semis.

“They had a pretty intense, emotional game in the quarters,” said Spartans’ Coach Brandie Dundas of her competitor, who went on to lose to Holy Trinity Academy in the finals. “They were pretty amped up.”

Strathmore received their “amp” from their pool game against Canmore on Nov. 15; after losing the first set 25-19, the Spartans came back to win 27-25, and 15-11.

“I’ve never heard our stands so loud,” Dundas said. “Such an amazing game, I think the boys just felt the energy of the crowd and really used it to their advantage. They played so well. That Canmore team is well rounded; they have a strong setter, middle, power. It’s really hard to defend against that. The boys just kind of stepped up and did their job.”

For the bronze medal on Nov. 16, Strathmore once again had to play Canmore, but took the win in straight sets: 25-16, 25-23.

“The second game, we just let Grade 12’s play. Those six boys have come up through Grade 10, 11, and 12 together,” Dundas said. “They all got to go out on the win, one of them got a huge block for the final point. It was just kind of a celebration –  ‘this is the end of our career, and we did it together.’ It was really cool.”

Last season ended with the Spartans going winless at zones; Dundas was extremely pleased with 2013’s finish – the original goal was to place at zones in their home gym.

“For us to go undefeated in pool play, that’s a huge improvement from last year,” Dundas said. “To be able to bounce back from a loss in semis, and win bronze, that shows huge mental strength.”

The Strathmore High School girls’ volleyball squad traveled to Cochrane for their zones on Nov. 15-16, and lost to George McDugall as well, but in the quarter finals. McDugall went on to win bronze.

In pool play, SHS first lost to Springbank, but won against High River, and Brooks – the latter being one of their biggest challenges.

“We ended up beating them, we played just great volleyball,” girls’ coach Randy Moncks said. “We worked as a team – it was just a good battle. Our mistakes were really, really few, and it was a lot of fun.”

Next, feeling good over the Brooks win, the Spartans rolled through Bow Valley in two straight sets, finishing second in their pool.

In the quarters, against McDugall who finished third in their own pool, Strathmore took the first set, but dropped the second.

“We made a few mistakes in the second set,” Moncks said. “They really played well and dominated, and controlled our power hitters quite a bit – did a really good job blocking and caused us a lot of problems.”

Up 11-6 in the third set, SHS lost the mind game, and fell 15-13.

“We just started making a few more mistakes again,” Moncks said. “We panicked a little bit. All of a sudden it just started rolling back on us, and we couldn’t stop it. We made some unforced errors right at the end – silly mistakes.”

Moncks said winning the tournament could have been possible, but the girls would have to work very, very hard.

“We struggled a little bit with consistency,” he said. “We had played so well on Saturday. All of a sudden we all sort of clicked together, and beating Brooks, they were so high.”

For next season, Moncks will be losing four players, including star Erika Myhre.

“She worked really well for me this year, she worked really hard,” Moncks said. “She really matured I thought at the end, especially in the second half of the season, and tried to build some kind of a system to attack. We’re going to miss her for sure.”

Moncks also credited his rookies, especially Sybil Bain and Taylor Stewart, who have come far in their play this season. Seven players are expected to return to the squad next season.

“We have to do a lot of work for sure next year,” Moncks said. “It would have been nice to go just one step further.”