Both the men's and women's Olds College Broncos varsity volleyball teams won the Western Canadian College Volleyball Championships hosted by Olds College Friday and Saturday.
The men beat the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology Palliser Panthers in three sets in the final (25-21, 13-25, 15-12), while the women beat the Bethany College Eagles in the final in straight sets (25-14, 25-16).
Steve Adams, the men's coach, said while the team started out well in the final taking the first set, they faltered a bit in the second set but managed to re-group for the win.
“They came out strong and played well and then their mental insecurities came through and … they're a young team and they have a lot of learning to do. It's a good learning match and yet we came out on top,” he said.
The Broncos made it to the final by going 2-1 in the round robin, losing 25-19, 23-25, 11-15 to St. Boniface College, beating Millar College 25-12, 29-27, beating SIAST Woodland 25-20, 25-20. In the playoffs, they beat Canadian Mennonite University 25-18, 19-25, 15-12, and Ambrose University College in the semi-final 25-20, 23-25, 15-13.
Adams said the tournament was a good experience for the Broncos as players who don't normally get a chance to play saw some action.
“They stepped up and played well. I'm thrilled with it,” he said.
“”It's a really good step forward (for the rest of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference season). Our semi-final match against Ambrose was a tough match and they're a good team and that's the first time our guys have pulled through in the clutch, and that kind of opens the door the next time we're down by two in the last couple points,” Adams said.
The women, meanwhile, had to overcome injuries to setters Jamie Craig and Jenna Henricks during the tournment, opening the door for players who don't normally see a lot of match action to get some more playing time. Chris Wandler, the women's head coach, said the tournament was a good opportunity for those players to get into some action and bring their level of play up.
“It was a challenge for us in the sense that we had to kind of overcome some disruptions in our line-up because we didn't have our two setters available to us this weekend. It was a good battle on our part because we had to play some girls that didn't normally get a chance to play in our regular season. I was really proud of the girls' effort,” he said.
Wandler said he was especially thankful that nobody got injured and the team can start off the second half of their ACAC season on the right foot.
The women made it to the final going 2-1 in the round robin, losing to Bethany College 16-25, 25-21, 15-12, beating St. Boniface 25-15, 25-12 and beating Millar College 25-5, 25-19. In the playoffs, the women beat the Prairie Bible Institute Pilots 25-22, 25-20, setting the stage for the final.
The junior varsity women had a 1-3 record during the tournament, losing to CMU 25-23, 25-18, beating SIAST Palliser 23-25, 27-25, 15-12, losing to PBI 25-14, 25-19 and losing in straigt sets in the playoff round to Assiniboine College.
The junior varsity men had a tougher time of it, losing all four matches they played. They lost 25-12, 26-24 to the Ambrose University College Lions, 25-21, 20-25, 15-11 to Grande Prairie Regional College, and 20-25, 25-22, 15-11 to Assiniboine College. In the playoffs, the JV men lost to CMU 25-19, 25-23.
