pair of volleyball coaches were adamant about who would win the Foothills Athletic Council girls volleyball final tonight in Strathmore.
The Spartans.
The second-place Strathcona-Tweedsmuir (STS) Spartans will play the first-place Strathmore Spartans for the Foothills Athletic Council (FAC) girls crown Nov. 14 in Strathmore.
Kevin Wilson, the coach of the Oilfields Drillers, got a bird’s eye view of Strathmore on Nov. 5, when they were knocked out of the playoffs by the eastside Spartans 3-2 (22-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-13) in the semifinals.
“Strathmore has a great setter and they hit very well,” Wilson said. “Strathmore doesn’t hit exceptionally hard — I would say STS hits harder — but Strathmore hits in spots, they hit the spots well.”
He added Strathmore is coached well and covers the floor extremely well.
The Drillers were also knocked off by the Okotoks area Spartans, when STS blanked the girls from Oilfields 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-16). However, Wilson said the Drillers were still getting their bearings straight in the early season tilt.
“STS hits very well and they have a great setter (Kenzie Walker),” Wilson said. “They are well coached (by Michelle Bartoshyk) and it shows.”
He doesn’t believe the STS Spartans have a weak spot. You just have to try and out-Spartan the STS Spartans.
“I don’t know if it is an Achilles’ heel or not but you just have to go at them hard and keep the pressure on them,” Wilson said. “If you start tipping at them, STS plays such great defence, they will just start hammering it back at you.”
If he was forced to pick a winner, he would take the Strathmore Spartans, based on their victory over STS earlier this year.
“But it’s going to be close,” Wilson said. “I think it will go five games.”
Wilson said he would love a chance to play STS again. Bartoshyk would welcome a rematch with the Drillers as well. The two teams are on opposite pools at the South Central 2A Zones this weekend in Brooks, so the only way they could meet is in the playoffs.
STS has won four of the last five FAC titles, their streak was broken by the Foothills Falcons last season. This year, the Falcons were knocked off by the Drillers in the quarterfinals.
Falcons coach Jenilee Delday Hemsing said this year’s final is too close to call.
“STS is a very smart team,” Delday Hemsing said. “They have some very smart hitters who know where to place the ball and when to go up to hit the ball.”
She said the Falcons had trouble adjusting when STS started tipping the ball over the Foothills hitters.
“If we were to play them again I would tell our girls to come out and do what we do best,” Delday Hemsing said.
“I would tell them not to worry about what happens on their (STS’s) side of the court, but instead worry about what is happening on our side.”
Delday Hemsing said to beat Strathmore she would have the Falcons put pressure on the Spartans and try to minimize her team’s errors.
It’s eeny-meeny-miney-moe when it comes to picking a winner.
“I think it is just a toss-up,” Delday Hemsing said. “It will just come down to which team can come out and execute its game plan.”
The Falcons will play the Bow Valley Bobcats this weekend to see who will represent the South Central Zone at provincials later this month.
The Falcons are in Cochrane on Thursday with Game 2 going Friday at 6 p.m. at Foothills Composite High School. Game 3, if needed, would be Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Check out the Western Wheel’s website to find out who won the FAC volleyball final at www.westernwheel.com.
