The Ecole Deer Meadow School Titans finished second in the junior girls B division at the Junior High Volleyball Jamboree, held at the Ralph Klein Centre from Sept. 19 to 20.
According to Stephen Anthony, athlete services programmer for the Olds College Broncos, the annual club tournament is used for outreach into rural communities, with the money raised going to benefit the school's athletic program.
Thirty-two teams from across the province participated in four divisions.
The “A” division was for players in grades 8 and 9.
Athletes in Grades 7 and 8 played in the “B” division.
Another team from town, Olds Koinonia Christian School, finished third in the junior boys A division.
The Titans played against Westpark Middle School in the gold medal match, losing in two sets, 25-4 and 25-22.
“It was the best team we've faced so far in the tournament. So it was a strong serving team,” said Titans coach Allan Bouliane. “But (it's the) beginning of the year; they're battling hard, they're learning their positions. They're learning how to play as a team and they did a lot of little things right.”
Bouliane added that the competition was a warm-up, to prepare his team for the upcoming season.
He was impressed with how his team rebounded in the second set, keeping the score close against Westpark.
“We're not going to give up. We're willing to dig deep. We were pushing for the third game, hoping to get to the final third game and see what happens,” he said. “But they did really well, they learned a lot and showed a lot of improvement from the start.”
The following schools from Olds played in the tournament:
Junior girls A: Olds High School Spartans and Olds Koinonia Christian School Royals.
Junior girls B: Ecole Deer Meadow School Titans.
Junior boys A: Olds Koinonia Christian School.
Junior boys B: Ecole Deer Meadow School.
