Two Holy Trinity Academy Knights co-captains were able to celebrate something they have never been able to do in their high school volleyball careers.
That is, finally beating their cross-town rivals the Foothills Falcons.
The Knights sit firmly in third-place in the Foothills Athletic Council Senior girls volleyball standings after beating the Falcons 3-1 (25-12, 25-16, 19-25, 25-18) Oct. 23 at Holy Trinity Academy.
“I don’t think we have beat them when I played senior girls volleyball — and I have played all three years on the senior team,” said the Knights’ Sam Stremecki. “I think we surprised them by beating them by as much as we did.”
The Knights are enjoying the fruits of two years of rebuilding as Holy Trinity Academy has not been a factor in Foothills Athletic Council standings for a while.
There is nothing like a few years of struggling and spending a lot of time on the court to help bring a team together.
“There are five of us girls who have played together on the OVC team (Okotoks Volleyball Club) and I think we are really close because we have been close since Grade 8,” said Knights setter and co-captain Ella Michel.
If all you needed was a happy unit, then the Brady Bunch would have been the best volleyball team in history. The Knights have also developed talent over the years.
Both Stremecki and Michel uttered two words on why they are much improved: “Jill Lazic”— the Knights’ powerful hitter.
“She is a big part of our team,” Stremecki said. “She is about 5’11” and is a huge hitter and blocker.”
Michel said Lizac brings a new wrinkle to spiking the ball — be patient, then whack the stuffing out of the ball.
“She has a different approach and it works for her,” Michel said. “All of our hitters have a normal approach, but she will wait and bring her arm around really quickly.
“It’s an explosion from her core for sure.”
The Knights’ two losses in FAC play have come against the Spartans — first-place perennial powerhouse the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS) Spartans and the second-place Strathmore Spartans.
Although the Knights were swept by Strathcona-Tweedsmuir three weeks ago, Stremecki remains optimistic the Knights can turn in a Spartan effort against their rivals to the west.
“The three games were close and we were missing (hitters) Jill Lazic and Ari Benwell,” she said. “I think we will do better the next time we play them.”
Knights coach Fritz Peters said her team is constantly improving and working hard to reach their goal of winning a banner.
“We have a good hitting, good blocking and a fabulous libero (Stremecki),” Peters said. “But we have to work on our serving.”
She estimated the Knights missed seven serves in one of their games against Foothills on Oct. 23.
The Holy Trinity Knights hosted the Highwood Mustangs Oct. 30 in the FAC quarterfinal. The other quarterfinals had Oilfields Drillers playing the Falcons, while the Strathmore Spartans played the Vulcan Hawks.
The STS Spartans had a bye.
Results of the quarterfinals were too late for the Western Wheel’s publication deadline but will be on the website at www.westernwheel.com
The semifinals are scheduled for Nov. 6.
