The Crescent Heights Vikings Sr. Girls volleyball team poses with the championship banner, beating Brooks in two sets.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Crescent Heights Vikings Sr. Girls volleyball team won the league championship on their own court Wednesday night.
The Vikings beat Brooks High School in two sets (25-12, 25-23) to capture the first volleyball league banner since 1985. They entered the playoffs first in the league but with a young group, featuring only two Grade 12s and a short bench with eight players.
Crescent Heights principal and assistant coach Shonna Barth says they banded together and won as a team.
“We had played Brooks and McCoy in the past and had been successful, McCoy got one game off of us this season,” Barth said. “We had a good season and those teams are just really gelling and clicking throughout the season.
“We were a little concerned that the teams with the bigger benches and more options for kids may surpass us at this time of year, but our girls fought hard and did really well. Going into playoffs it felt like we were a little bit of underdogs because we were young and a small team, but the girls did not act like underdogs.”
The Vikings and Brooks had a bye to the semis with their regular season standings. Brooks played the Monsignor McCoy Colts, winning in three sets and the Vikings beat the Eagle Butte Talons in two sets to set up the finals matchup.
Barth says the Vikings, led by community head coach Marshall Armstrong, just continued their brand of enjoying the sport and used it as a recipe for success.
“He is an exceptional coach, he’s done really well and we’ve had the same group of girls right from the COVID year of Grade 7,” Barth said. “We’ll coach them through to Grade 12 next year as well. You have ups and downs when you’re together that often, but for the most part, we’re a little family that everybody just supports each other.”
The Vikings will host the South Zone tournament Nov. 15-16, with the winning teams looking to punch their ticket to provincials at Ponoka Nov. 21-23.
The Zones tournament will feature McCoy and Eagle Butte locally, with six other South Zone teams vying for the top spot. Barth says they’re looking to defend home court once again and go out on top for their Grade 12s.
Without looking too far ahead, she’s also excited for the potential of what the Grade 11 heavy team can do as they continue to grow.
“They they don’t get down, they have a lot of fun,” Barth said. “We played Vauxhall two weekend ago in our home tournament and lost to them in the gold playoff, but the girls were just thrilled with the game because they knew it was really good volleyball.
“They’re just that kind of group that win or lose, as long as they’re playing a good game, they are just great sports and great teammates.”
