The girls from the little high school in Innisfail have super spiked their way to a top eight finish at the provincial volleyball championships.
From Nov. 24 to 25 in Camrose, the Cyclones senior girls volleyball team from Innisfail High School, which is officially designated a 2A institution, proved they could not only compete against the larger schools, but earn the respect of the 11 other larger schools at the 2016 3A Girls Provincial Championship.
“With the size that we are, we really should be playing 2A, so we actually played up,” said first-year head coach Deen Lockhat.
The girls' performance at the tournament also marked the first time in 15 years the school has competed at a provincial girls volleyball championship.
“To finish in the top eight, and there are only seven other teams in the province better than you, that is a pretty big deal,” said first-year head coach Deen Lockhat, who stepped in to coach the team this year, taking over from departing longtime athletic director Jeff Anderson. “A huge part (of success) belongs to Jeff Anderson, who was here for five or six years. He is 100 per cent of the reason why they were able to compete this year. I basically tried not to mess up what he did.”
The 10-member team, which included seven from Grade 12 and three from Grade 11, lost their first game on Nov. 24 in straight sets to Springbank, the tourney's eventual silver medal winners.
The next day the local Cyclones team played three games. They lost to the eventual gold medallist and fourth overall teams in two straight sets, but won a thrilling three-set match against Taber.
On Nov. 26, the local team's hopes to advance further in the tournament were dashed when they lost against Taber, a one-set to 25 match designed to break a three-way tie in the tournament.
The Innisfail squad wound up tied for eighth place in the two-pool 12-team tournament.
“Taber proved too strong for the girls. The girls finished in the top eight teams in the province, and it should be noted that three of the top four teams overall were in our pool,” said Lockhat.
The provincial championship tournament marked the end of the season for the team. With more than two-thirds of the local players graduating this year, the next season will begin with an entirely different squad. Lockhat already has his sights set towards the future.
“Usually at the very beginning there is a tournament in Red Deer that we go to and then you get to see how we stack up,” he said. “From there I like to choose our yearly goal with the girls and go from there.”
Deen Lockhat, head coach
"With the size that we are, we really should be playing 2A, so we actually played up. To finish in the top eight, and there are only seven other teams in the province better than you, that is a pretty big deal."
