Cougars 3 Raiders 1
Call it a net result.
The Notre Dame Cougars were superior at the mesh during Tuesday’s opening match of the best-of-three 4A zone senior high boys volleyball final versus the host Lindsay Thurber Raiders, and, predictably, emerged as 3-1 victors.
“This is one of the best hitting teams that we’ve had and I think when we take care of first contact and passing on service receive, that it really gives us a lot of options and opens up the court for us,” said Cougars head coach AJ Mahoney, following his club’s 21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-18 win.
Earlier, the host Raiders swept Notre Dame 3-0 in the first match of the best-of-three senior girls zone final.
The Cougars boys were led by outsides Connor Sinnamon, Parker Biletsky and Griffin Moline, whose kill closed out the final set and the match. The Raiders didn’t have the same killer instinct at the net and were hampered by a handful of service faults.
“Connor has been a big hitter for us all season and Parker is one of our captains and a big lefty, as is Griffin,” said Mahoney.
The series switches to Notre Dame for a second match Thursday. Mahoney insisted Raiders coach Terence McMullen will have his charges primed for the do-or-die contest.
“Terence always has a great team by the end of the season,” said Mahoney, who was impressed with the brand of volleyball played Tuesday.
“Terence and I are kind of the same way — we both like our teams to peak at the same time so we have a good match at the end. We’ve had some good battles back and forth throughout the season, but this is definitely the highest quality we have played at the same time and I’m looking forward to another big one on Thursday.”
Raiders 3 Cougars 0
Head coach Kirsten DeZutter could not pinpoint any one area in which her Raiders dominated in the 25-18, 25-20, 25-15 conquest of their Red Deer foes.
Nor could she identity any one or two of her charges who stood out above the others.
That doesn’t mean she wasn’t impressed with her players’ performance.
“We’re proud of our efforts tonight and happy with the result,” said DeZutter. “I’m pleased all the way around. To be honest, I really believe it was a huge team effort tonight.
“We had one person step up to chase the ball down and another person getting the block. I really believe that it was a team effort. That’s how I felt tonight.”
Lindsay Thurber trailed 17-18 in the opening set before recording the next eight points in succession. It was more of the same in the second set, with the score knotted at 19-19 before the Raiders garnered six of the next seven points, including a clinching service ace by Kelsey Lalor.
The two sides clash again Thursday at 6 p.m. at Notre Dame. The boys match will follow.
“We know it’s always going to be a battle with the other Red Deer teams, Notre Dame and Hunting Hills,” said DeZutter. “It’s a really healthy (inner-city) rivalry that we have here and we believe in ourselves.
“We just know that we have one more match and we’re not going to look past that at all. We know it’s going to be a tough match Thursday night.”
If the Cougars girls rebound to prevail Thursday, a third and deciding match will be played Friday at Lindsay Thurber.
If the Lindsay Thurber boys win at Notre Dame, the Cougars will host the deciding match Friday.
The winners will represent the Central zone in the 4A provincials Nov. 26-28 at Edmonton Jasper Place.