The Olds High School (OHS) Junior A Spartans girls volleyball team won the bronze medal in the south central zones tournament during the Nov. 12 weekend in Brooks. It was the first medal at 4J zones for OHS.
The Olds High School (OHS) Junior A Spartans girls volleyball team won the bronze medal in the south central zones tournament during the Nov. 12 weekend in Brooks.
It was the first medal at 4J zones for OHS.
Red Deer Lake won gold and Brooks won silver.
During round robin play the Spartans lost some close matches to Red Deer Lake and Canmore, falling 15-10 in the third set.
However, they then went on to defeat Okotoks in two straight sets, putting them into the quarter-finals.
The team stepped up their game and with some solid defence, defeated the second-place team from Strathmore.
It was now on to the semifinals and a rematch against Red Deer Lake, the eventual gold medal-winning team. Unfortunately, the Spartans came up a little short, losing the first set 25-23 and they were not able to come back.
It was now off to the bronze medal game against Chestermere.
The girls went into this match with a lot of determination.
They attacked the ball and were determined not to let anything hit the floor on their side. They won that match in two straight games, resulting in the bronze medal.
The girls never got down on themselves. They went a long way in the tournament, thanks to strong serving and defence throughout. The front row did a great job blocking and if something got through, the back row was there to pick it up.
Unfortunately, when we played the first-place team from Red Deer Lake we had two bad runs on serve/receive that let the opposition back into the game.
The team had a three-phase plan in order to prepare for zones.
Phase 1 was winning their league and working as a unit.
Phase 2 involved speeding up the game, being aggressive and playing with emotion. A tournament in Banff and games against Cremona and John Paul II helped accomplish this phase.
Finally, Phase 3 was to make it all happen in Brooks and enjoy the south central zones experience.
The team approached the season and tournament with the saying, "learn from the past, stay in the present, change the future."
This was something the team embraced throughout the season. It eventually helped them capture bronze -- and more importantly, helped each player grow as a person. It really was a team win. Everyone played a very important part.
- Kelvin Beaudry has been coaching the junior girls volleyball team, along with Melissa Johnson.
"They attacked the ball and were determined not to let anything hit the floor on their side. They won that match in two straight games, resulting in the bronze medal."KELVIN BEAUDRYCO-COACHOHS JUNIOR GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM
