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Knights, Falcons sweep each other away

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in a classic volleyball story A Tale of Two Schools in One City. The Holy Trinity Academy Knights senior girls volleyball team blanked the Foothills Composite Falcons 3-0 at HTA on Oct. 21.
Holy Trinity Academy Knights Julia Simard (1) and Danielle Forester (14) go up to block the shot of Foothills Falcon Ally Bymak Oct. 21 at HTA.
Holy Trinity Academy Knights Julia Simard (1) and Danielle Forester (14) go up to block the shot of Foothills Falcon Ally Bymak Oct. 21 at HTA.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in a classic volleyball story A Tale of Two Schools in One City.

The Holy Trinity Academy Knights senior girls volleyball team blanked the Foothills Composite Falcons 3-0 at HTA on Oct. 21. only to have the Falcons senior boys turn the same trick immediately afterwards.

The boys’ victory gave the Falcons first-place with a 6-0 record at the end of the Foothills Athletic Council regular season. The Knights dropped to second place at 5-1.

The Falcons are starting to take flight.

“We’re evolving as a team,” said Falcons coach Corey Cowper. “We’re executing at a higher level than we have. If we can keep that up, we will be set.”

Foothills middle Mason Sheen agreed.

“We are constantly working to get better — trying to apply what we learn in practice to the court,” Sheen said. “We were able to hold their middles in, which gave us better opportunity for our outsides and our middles too.”

There’s a reason the Knights went into the match 5-0 in the council.

“They are really smart,” Sheen said. “They know when to tip the ball and they know to put it down.”

Knights power Colton Kroon said they knew they had their work cut out going into the game.

“Going into it, we knew it was first place and that it was going to be a real tough game,” Kroon said. “We made a couple of errors and they hit them back really hard.”

He said the Knights are going to have to block better the next time they play the Falcons.

The Knights were stymied by the loss of middle Sam Wilton-Clark who was missing due to illness.

Both teams advanced to the semifinals with victories on Monday.

The Falcons host the Oilfields Drillers at 6 p.m. Oct. 28. The STS Spartans go to HTA for a 7 p.m. tilt.

Meanwhile, the HTA Knights girls swept the Falcons despite falling behind 14-4 in the opening set.

“Foothills came out with a lot of energy and we came out a little flat,” said Knights coach Paul Morris. “I made some substitutions and we got the serve back and it changed the energy.”

He credited the Falcons for jumping on the Knights.

“They came to play,” Morris said.

The Knights went on to win the first set 25-23 and then swept with 25-21, 25-19 victories in the next two sets.

“Our middles gave up some solid blocking,” Morris said. “Payton Lindeman played well on power. She is a smart hitter, she had a couple of tips well and hit a couple balls deep that scored.”

“I think Foothills blocked as well as we did, but we responded better with tips, deep balls and moving the ball around.”

Knights middle Danielle Forester stood tall in the middle blocking she was a virtual spike-belt for HTA.

Falcons coach Carolyn Lenstra, ever the teacher, had the glass was three-quarters full attitude towards the outcome.

“This was a 100 per-cent learn-from-our-mistakes experience,” Lenstra said. “We know we can beat them on the floor, now we have to maintain that level of composure — not just for the first 15 minutes of the game.”

She said the Falcons got knocked on their heels as the Knights rallied.

“We knew HTA wasn’t going to roll over and let us take it,” Lenstra said. “They showed a lot of composure and came back. That took us off guard and we got more tentative.”

Falcons power Ally Bymak said the loss is something the Falcons will remember as playoffs start this week.

“I think we can do well our next game,” Bymak said. “We have to focus on little errors, keep running our offence when we can. We have been giving up a lot of free balls. Whenever we swing, it does us well.

“We have to focus on that and not be timid.”

Lindeman said the Knights’ trust in one another grew in the first set.

“We started off slow, but we started communicating, working as a team and there was trust again,” she said.

The Falcons advanced to the semifinals by beating Oilfields on Monday.

They will take on the STS Spartans at STS at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in one of the semifinals.

The Knights had a bye to the semis and will host the Vulcan Hawks at 5:30 p.m.

For further information go to fac.teampages.com

HTA and Foothills will have their senior boys and girls squads at the Falcons Classic on Oct. 29-30 at the Comp.

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