The Foothills Falcons are hoping that good things come in threes.
The Falcons rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans 3-2 in the Foothills Athletic Council semifinal Oct. 28 at STS.
Foothills lost the first two sets 20-25, 16-25 but battled back with 25-16, 25-21 victories to set up the 15-point deciding fifth game.
“I basically told the girls the first two games were warm up and now we are playing to 65 points — we have to earn 65 points and that’s what they did,” said Falcons head coach Carolyn Lenstra.
Make that 67 points.
The game went into extra points after the two teams were tied at 15-15 in Game 5.
They won the match when Chayle Clark slammed home a perfect set from Bethany Hardy for the 17-15 victory.
“It was on a lower ball and they got me the ball – I got the ball to Chayle and she killed it,” Hardy said. “We just never gave up on each other even though we were down two sets.”
The play was set up by a tough serve from Falcon captain Skylar Van Der Kooi – who was determined not to let the pressure get to her.
“I wasn’t thinking about getting it anywhere specific,” she said. “I was thinking get it over and let us work as a team to get the point.”
The Falcons, the defending FAC champions, will take on the Holy Trinity Academy Knights Thursday in a volleyball extravaganza at the Crescent Point Field House near Aldersyde.
The Knights, who easily disposed of the Vulcan Hawks in the other semifinal, have beaten the Falcons in their previous two matches, including a 2-1 victory at the Foothills tourney on Halloween. The Knights swept the Falcons 3-0 in their regular season match on Oct. 21.
Lenstra is hoping the third time will be the charm.
“We have to maintain our focus and confidence,” Lenstra said. “We have to serve tough and we have to move their libero (Allora Mason) who is quite tough.
“We have to eliminate their quick attack.”
She said the Knights have good hitters, led by Jill Lazic, Payton Lindeman and others.
Lenstra said the Falcons have come a long ways since being shut out by the Knights, adding the Falcons would have likely folded if faced with a 2-0 deficit to STS earlier in the season.
“The biggest thing is we have confidence in each other and they have learned to trust each other,” she said.
However, the Knights, the 2013 FAC champs, will be more than a stern test.
They were the no. 1 seed going into the playoffs after going through the FAC regular play undefeated.
Regardless, Knights coach Paul Morris said his girls will have their work cut out for them in the final.
“I expect a tough game, we played them twice this year and it’s been competitive,” Morris said. “We have to pass the ball well and get the ball to our setter… Once we set plays up, we are a pretty strong offensive team.”
He’s not surprised to be meeting the Comp.
“I think STS is a very good defensive team and the Comp is strong offensively so that is an always a close match,” Morris said. “The set I saw against STS, Foothills did a very good job of moving the ball around to different players.”
He said in their sweep of the Falcons, the Knights were able to key on power Ally Bymak.
Both the FAC JV and senior girls championships are at 5:30 p.m. at the Field House.
For more information go to fac.teampages.com
