SHS volleyball teams competing in tournaments

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

An injury to a veteran setter shifted the perspective of the Strathmore High School Spartans senior boys volleyball team last weekend at the Magrath Smash tournament.
Sitting 1-1 midway through the round robin slate, Ryan Edwards turned an ankle near the net. Not a catastrophic injury by any means, but the blow was deepened with backup setter Josh Filipionek away at cross-country provincials.
“The goal was to compete for a top-three spot in the tourney, but the injury changed things,” said Spartans Head Coach Cole Hintz. “It was disappointing to not be in the top three, but it allowed us to get a different look with different guys and (we) learned a couple new things from the other top teams in the province.”
The Spartans opened the weekend with a straight-sets loss to the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams 2-0 (19-25, 19-25). Up next, they swept the Bert Church High School Chargers 2-0 (25-15, 25-16).
It was in that third game against the host Magrath High School Zeniths where Edwards ankle took a turn for the worst, as the Spartans went on to drop the third set, losing 2-1 (25-18, 18-25, 8-15).
“It was a tough loss; the injury threw our chemistry off with our setters and middles,” said Hintz. “We were establishing a mismatch through the middle working towards the outside weak blocker when Ryan went down. We had problems establishing that mismatch following that injury.”
The Spartans went on to drop their remaining round robin games to the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles 2-0 (19-25, 16-25) and to the Cardston High School Cougars.
Finishing fifth following the round robin, the Spartans landed in a consolation game, paired up with the Chargers, which they ultimately dropped 2-0 (19-25, 22-25).
“We will see LCI and Bert Church again on our way to provincials, so it was at least still good to get a look at them before then,” said Hintz.
Next weekend, the Spartans travel to Airdrie for the Kodiak Classic tournament, before returning home Nov. 3-4 to host the annual Spartans tournament.
In the girls bracket, the Spartans impressed their head coach with an elevated compete level compared to weekends in the past.
The Spartans placed third in the round robin with a win over the County Central Hawks 2-1 (20-25, 25-23, 18-16) and losses to the LCI Rams 2-1 (21-25, 25-21, 7-15) and to the host Magrath High School Pandas 2-0 (23-25, 20-25).
“We weren’t too concerned about our placement following the round robin, I just wanted to see us play better in tight matches,” said Spartans Head Coach Randy Moncks. “This was the first time we really battled once scores got into the 20s. We minimized mistakes that we have made in the past as some of the girls were rising to the occasion.”
The Spartans faced off with the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles in the quarters, and bested them 2-0 (25-21, 25-22).
“That was a really big hurdle for us to get over,” said Moncks.
Following their big win Oct. 20, they were bound for the semis and a tilt with the Rams.
The only problem was the Spartans would be without one of their top players from the middle, Natalie Funk, younger sister of former Spartans volleyball star Caleb Funk.
“She’s so athletic and tall, she has a great net presence and controls the game up front for us,” said Moncks of his Grade 10 pupil.
Down one girl, the Spartans still battled, but fell 2-0 to the Rams (22-25, 19-25).
“I saw a lot of good things this weekend,” said Moncks. “My biggest job now is to convince these girls that they are just as good athletically as the girls on the other side of the net. They need to believe that and have confidence heading into our next few matches.”
Next weekend the Spartans will familiarize themselves with the location of the provincial showdown, as they head to Sylvan Lake for another weekend tournament.
Following that, the Spartans will host their annual Spartan tournament Nov. 3-4 at the High School.