Eagles boys land volleyball gold
The Immanuel Christian Eagles boys volleyball team have taken flight to provincial gold.
The Eagles defeated Calgary West Island College in a threeset barnburner during the championship final of the Alberta Schools Athletic Association 2A provincials Saturday night in Taber at St. Mary’s.
In three tight sets, the Eagles won the first set 26-24 before the Wolves battled back with a 25-22 win in the second set to force the race to 15 in the final set for gold.
Fittingly, the winner-take-all set proved to be equally close before the Eagles pulled out a 15-13 decision to earn this year’s provincial.
“It was exciting, quite the match,” said Eagles head coach Nathan Watson. “It was really good, the guys played their hearts out. We fought through some rough patches, but ultimately they kept their composure, kept being aggressive and ended up on top.”
The Eagles went 5-0 in the round-robin
That put them in the semifinal Saturday, where they downed La Crete Public School 2-0 while West Island College defeated Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School in the other semifinal to set up the exciting gold medal game.
After two close first sets and a third set that proved equally tense, the celebration was on when the winning Eagles shot hit the floor.
“They were ecstatic,” said Watson. “They’ve worked really hard to get to this point and when the final whistle blew (there were) nine guys on the court and they were celebrating and hugging each other. They were as excited as you should be when you win a close match like that in a provincial final.”
It’s a young Eagles team that captured the 2017 provincial banner.
“We’re mostly Grade 10s and 11s,” said Watson. “We graduated one player this year. It’s a group that knows how to work hard and knows how to be coached. We’ve kind of evolved over time. It was literally a match-and-a-half into the provincial tournament when we really solidified what we were doing. The guys stepped up in a big way. They played within their means, but it’s a good group of guys that worked hard to get where they are and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The Eagles medal was one of five for the South Zone this weekend.
In the 2A girls provincials in Fairview, the Vauxhall ViQueens earned the silver medal, as did the Bow Island Senator Gershaw Gators at the 1A boys provincials in Eckville.
The Vi-Queens advanced to the gold medal game, but were defeated 2-0 (25-15, 26-24) by Spirit River Regional Academy.
Vauxhall beat Calgary Rundle College 2-1 in the semifinal (21-25, 25-21, 15-9) after going a 5-0 in the round robin.
The Gators also advanced to the gold medal game in Eckville, but were topped by Central Alberta Christian.
Senator Gershaw, who was 50 in the round-robin, beat Olds Koinonia Christian School in the semifinal to earn a berth in the gold medal game.
In the 3A boys and girls provincials, the LCI Rams and Clippers each scored a bronze medal.
At the 3A boys tournament in Strathmore, the Rams lost to Barrhead Composite in the semifinal, but rebounded in the third-place courtesy a 2-0 decision over Strathcona Christian Academy.
The Rams went undefeated in the round-robin, going 5-0.
On the girls side, the Clippers are coming home with a bronze medal after the 3A championship in Sylvan Lake.
The Clippers started the day with a 2-0 win over Eagle Butte High, but lost 2-1 to Cochrane High School in the semifinal.
In the bronze medal game, the Clippers swept St. Paul Regional High 2-0.