The Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans are heading back to the 2A high school girls provincial volleyball championships this weekend where they once again will be caught up in the Spirit.
As in the defending provincial champions the Spirit River Renegades.
The Renegades and the Spartans have met in the 2A provincial final in three consecutive years, with Spirit River winning in 2011 and 2009 and the Spartans in 2010.
Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS) qualified for the provincials by beating the Three Hills Royals in Brooks on Nov. 17 in two straight sets in the South Central Zone final.
“The girls played amazing,” Spartans coach Michelle Bartoshyk said. “We were very consistent on the court and we trusted each other.
“We took care of the things that we could control on the court.”
The Spartans were well served by their players.
“We were something like 94 per cent on our serves landing in the court which is very good,” Bartoshyk said. “We also passed well.”
The Spartans lost only one set at zones which was to the host St. Joe’s Hawks. The Hawks used a lot of off-speed stuff to confuse the Spartans. However, STS figured things out and eventually won the match.
Now, Bartoshyk and the Spartans are focusing on provincials and hopefully another tilt with the Renegades this week in Rimbey.
STS and Spirit River are the top seeds in the two pools.
“Spirit River is the team I know best, but Vauxhall is also there and they are good,” Bartoshyk said. “We have played them twice and they beat us once and we beat them once.”
The Spartans played the powerhouse Renegades at a tournament earlier this season with Spirit River winning in two straight sets.
“They just don’t make a lot of mistakes,” Bartoshyk said. “All of their players can hit and they are very strong from the outside.
“They are willing to do what ever it takes when they are on defence. All of our games with them have always been close.”
Bartoshyk is cautiously optimistic going into provincials.
“I like our odds against them because I think we are stronger in middle,” Bartoshyk said.
“Ciara (Hanly) and Arie (Arielle Beauchesne) are very strong for us in the middle.”
Bartoshyk said she feels they also have more experience than the Renegades at setter with Kenzie Walker.
“Kenzie has been to provincials before and knows how to win at provincials,” she said.
Spirit River Renegades coach John Slaunwhite isn’t putting much stock in their victory over the Spartans earlier this year.
“They were missing Ciara when we played them in Didsbury,” Slaunwhite said. “They will have also improved a lot since then — hopefully so have we. We aren’t putting any stake on how we have done against them earlier in this year.”
He said the Renegades look at STS as the team to beat at provincials.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see us playing them in the playoffs on Saturday,” Slaunwhite said. “We have a ton of respect for their program and we always prepare ourselves to try and beat them.”
He said the Spartans are a good ball control team with some strong hitters.
“We try to take them out of their system by changing speed and serving tough,” Slaunwhite said.
Although this is north versus south, this is far from an Eskimos-Stamps or Oilers-Flames rivalry.
There is tremendous respect between the two teams.
“We really enjoy each other,” Slaunwhite said.
“We hosted provincials last year and a lot of our girls have played with one another on Team Alberta.
“During the games, it’s an all-out battle, but afterwards the kids are getting their pictures together. It’s been a great rivalry and I look forward to continuing that this weekend.”
The provincials get started on Friday in Rimbey. To follow the action go to www.asaa.ca and click on 2A girls — Rimbey Jr/Sr High.
Drillers third
The Oilfields Drillers took home the bronze medal at the 2A girls high school volleyball zones in Brooks.
“We beat the host team (St. Joe’s) in the bronze medal game,” Drillers coach Kevin Wilson said. “It’s the first medal for Oilfields in a number of years.”
The top two teams at the zones qualified for provincials.
