The move up a division seems to be suiting the Holy Trinity Academy Knights just fine.
In their first season at the 4A level the Knights senior boys are through to the Alberta High School Volleyball Championships after taking out the Foothills Falcons in two matches in the best-of-three South Central Zone final.
“Every game we’ve played them has been neck and neck and could go either way,” said Knights co-captain Ethan Miller. “In the end it came down to consistency. We’ve always been a pretty consistent team, making serves, getting the ball over the net and limiting our mistakes as much as we can.”
HTA clinched the zone banner with a competitive straight sets triumph (25-19, 25-21, 25-20) on Nov. 17 on its home court.
Wanting to change the tide, the Falcons put an almost completely new starting line-up on the floor in Game 2 of the best-of-three zone final.
“We know that the Comp can always surprise people. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game,” Miller said. “They came out with all of their back-ups which was something to throw us off, but we pulled through.”
Not without a fight.
The middle set saw the Falcons’ defensive efforts shine through leading to an early lead for the visiting squad. Following a 5-0 run by the Knights, Foothills regained some momentum on a thrilling rally led by a diving dig from captain Tate Morrell to cut the deficit to 23-19. Knights co-captain Jon Gerber answered immediately on the next point with a trademark smash from the hard-hitting outside. Three points later, the Knights would hang on for the 25-21 win.
Foothills again came out in top form to start the third set with a 6-3 advantage only to be answered by seven straight from the Knights, mostly on long rallies between the squads.
Facing the end of its season, the Falcons got a little life late in the set on three straight points capped by massive hits by Morrell and Matt Greenshields narrowing the gap to three.
That’s as close as they would get.
Following a service error by the Comp, Miller finished off the Falcons when his serve took a fortuitous bounce off the net and went astray of the Foothills defenders.
“We went out there as our last chance to do our best,” Morrell said. “It was potentially the last game for the majority of the team so we weren’t utterly focused on the outcome.
“We played well, but you can’t always come out with the win.”
Keying in on sharper first contacts was crucial to the Knights surge in the second game of the best-of-three set. The Falcons gave them a good scare in the opening match in which the Knights held on in straight sets (26-24, 25-16, 25-22).
“Our first game we missed a lot of serves,” Gerber said. “In this game we were focusing on staying consistent, but also staying strong and keeping that killer instinct.”
The core of the Knights team has been together since their JV days in Grade 10 under then coach Dylan Sinclair. Three years later and they completed an undefeated campaign in the Foothills Athletic Council regular season, playoffs and in the zone tournament.
“This means a lot to us because with this team we’ve had a lot of second-place finishes throughout Grade 10 and 11,” Gerber said. “We went to zones last year and weren’t able to make it that far.
“Being able to make it this far took a lot of team effort and we all had to rise above to the situation.”
Foothills will be a notable absentee at the provincial tournament. Prior to this season the Falcons had made it through to three of the past four championships, missing out most recently in 2014.
“They played well and there is not a lot you can do,” said Morrell, a Grade 12 student. “It was a great group this year. We had a lot of fun, made a lot of great memories. The guys were really tight and it was a good last year to have.”
HTA’s first entry into the 4A championships is its first trip to provincials since the 2014 season in which it made it through to the quarterfinal round.
Throughout the season in tournament play the Knights have gone toe-to-toe with provincial powerhouses and more than held their own.
“We took Scarlett to 26 points in one of our games. We took Western to three sets and lost by three,” Miller added. “We’ve been stacked up against the best teams in all of Alberta and we’ve given them games.
“I think little Okotoks can do some damage in provincials.”
The Alberta High School 4A Senior Volleyball Championships run Nov. 23-26 at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive in Red Deer.
For more information go to asaa.ca/championships
