Most teams are happy to win one banner a year. However, that’s not the case for the Foothills Falcons Junior Varsity boys volleyball team — they won a pair of banners in the span of five days.

Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartan William Whitehead battles with Foothills Falcon Tyler Grigor and Bryce Hardy in the Foothills Athletic Council JV boys final Nov. 14 at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School. The Falcons won the match two sets to one. photo by Bruce Campbell

The Falcons won the Foothills Athletic Council finals when they beat the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans two sets to one at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School near Okotoks on Nov. 14.

They capped off the week by winning the 3A Junior Varsity South Central Zone when they hung on to beat the Canmore Crusaders in two sets (28-26, 25-19) Saturday at Highwood High School in High River.

The Falcons were coasting in the first set as they built up a 24-20 lead and were just one point away from victory when the Crusaders put the brakes on the Falcons’ cruise control by rattling off five straight to take a 25-24 lead.

Canmore came close to winning the match 26-24, but a spike went just out of bounds at the back of the Falcons’ court.

The near loss was a wake-up call for the Falcons, said captain Coleman Young.

“We weren’t executing well at all,” Young said. “We had to focus and get back to our game.”

The Falcons’ game is solid passing and hitting. They found their mark and rattled off three straight points for the 28-26 victory.

They led throughout the second game en route to a 25-19 victory to win the zone banner.

The Falcons won the Foothills Athletic Council title by beating the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans in two straight sets.

Foothills was led by hitter Jake Brewster who practically dented the floor with his spikes. Brewster also rattled off seven straight high-velocity serves to help the Falcons overcome a 19-13 deficit to win the first match.

“It was good to beat Strathcona-Tweedsmuir,” said Brewster, a Grade 10 student. “When I was in junior high (Okotoks) they beat us a lot.”

The Oilfields Drillers finished third at the FAC tournament by beating the Holy Trinity Knights in two games in the bronze medal match.

Oilfields just missed out on winning a medal at the 2A South Central Zone when they lost to Oyen in the third-place match Saturday in Acme.

Drillers coach Leigh Bretzlaff said his team was inconsistent at zones.

During the round robin, they played a stellar first set against the second-place Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans.

“We played really well the first set losing 25-23 and then we were beat 25-15,” Bretzlaff said. “You have to play with emotion in volleyball and we lost our emotion.”

The Acme Redmen won the JV title by beating Strathcona-Tweedsmuir in the final.

Senior volleyball

The ‘Wolves didn’t have to stray too far from home to win a banner.

The Notre Dame Collegiate Timberwolves from High River beat Prairie Christian Academy in the finals of the 2A South Central zones at Oilfields High School in Black Diamond Saturday.

The Timberwolves will now go to Rocky Mountain House for provincials.

The host Drillers were knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinals by the Acme Redmen.

The Holy Trinity Knights finished fifth at 3A South Central boys zones in Airdrie.

The Foothills Falcons did not have to play zones and will compete at the 4A Senior boys provincials in Lethbridge this weekend.

bcampbell@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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