ALBERTA NEWSPAPER GROUP PHOTO JUSTIN SEWARD A Crescent Heights player takes a swing against Eagle Butte during the 3A zone volleyball final Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018 at Crescent Heights.
Justin Seward
Alberta Newspaper Group
The Eagle Butte Talons senior girls volleyball team lived up to their No. 1 seed at the South Zone championships.
The Talons beat host Crescent Heights High School 3-0 in Saturday’s zone final to take the 3A banner.
“It was nice because there was a lot of pressure on us,” said Talons head coach Maurey Salmon.
“I think from the start, we were thinking we had a pretty good shot at winning it. We played at the higher level when we needed to, which is a bonus for us.”
The final against the Vikings was the Talons’ best match, he said.
“Once we knew we had provincial berth, we calmed down and just played some volleyball and relaxed,” he said.
“I think the key was keeping the nerve under control and giving them a break when the nerves are too much for them.”
Both finalists advance to this weekend’s provincials in Beaverlodge. Eagle Butte beat Monsignor McCoy in one semifinal, while the Vikings needed four sets to defeat Winston Churchill.
The match of the weekend may have been Crescent Heights’ five-set quarter-final win over LCI Friday however.
For Grade 12 Talons player Donera Resch, playing in the finals was a fair bit less stressful than the Saturday morning semifinal versus a Colts team they had only met up with once during the season. That was the match that determined who got the provincial berth.
“We both wanted it equally, said Resch. “It’s just we pushed a lot harder. We really made sure our defence was good and all of our offence was working.”
Vikings coach Scott Galloway said his girls were not at their peak but played well enough to get to the final on home court.
“Our entire goal this season has been trying to find one of those berths to provincials,” he said.
“We were very excited to make the final and maybe we let down a little bit. I thought we didn’t execute as well as we did all day. But Eagle Butte is a strong team, very deserving. Number one seed coming in and proved it with their victory today.”
It was a fun match for the Vikings to be in.
“It was such a fun game,” said Vikes’ setter Litany Bloomfield. “I loved the energy and just how everyone was in it. We were happy with how we did and we played to our best ability. We wanted to beat Eagle Butte but unfortunately it didn’t happen but now we got provincials to work towards.”
It has been over 20 years since a Crescent Heights girls volleyball team has made it to provincials.
In the 3A boys final, LCI beat Cardston for the banner and both advance to Rocky Mountain House for provincials. The host Vikings were felled by LCI in the semifinals.
4A
Both of Hat High’s teams came up just short of earning trips to Grande Prairie.
At Lethbridge College, the Mohawks and Kwahommies couldn’t get past Catholic Central and Chinook for spots at 4A provincials.
The Kwahommies beat Chinook Friday but lost their remaining two draws, including a rematch Saturday with the Coyotes. Chinook wound up taking the zone banner over Catholic Central.
In boys play the Mohawks went 0-3. Catholic Central won the banner.
2A
At Lethbridge, Vauxhall won 2A girls and Immanuel Christian the 2A zone boys title.
1A
Senator Gerhsaw’s boys won a third straight 1A title in Lethbridge Saturday.
They didn’t drop a set including a 2-0 sweep of Brant Christian in the final, though both teams advance to provincials.
Picture Butte won the girls final — and the lone provincial berth — over Milk River.
