The Lindsay Thurber Raiders senior girls are the best volleyball team in the province. Again.
Lindsay Thurber won their second straight gold at the 4A Alberta Schools Athletic Association Provincial Championships in Grande Prairie Saturday.
They downed the Western Canada Redhawks in a three-set sweep (25-13, 25-21, 25-20) to win their sixth provincial title since 1999. They are also the first team to repeat since Centennial High School in 2011.
“Incredibly proud of them. We’ve been really working on it all season, as long as we’re looking to grow and be better. We relied on the experience and that really showed even when we were tested in the final,” Raiders coach Kirsten Dezutter said.
“The experience of the team and the support and encouragement that they gave each other was really quite incredible.”
In pool play, the Redhawks beat the Raiders in three sets (11-25, 25-10, 12-15). The Raiders finished pool play 1-2 but swept both their quarter-final and semi-final games to earn a berth in the final.
“Thursday you are in the power pool and you are playing really great volleyball and tough teams. You know you are where you need to be and you have to have faith that the hard work you’ve put in and the training through the season is going to pay off,” Dezutter said.
“When you break it down to little pieces and realize you are playing really high calibre volleyball, we hadn’t beat Charles Spencer in about a month and we hadn’t beat Western (Canada) since Thanksgiving… those struggles and being tested in those moments actually makes your team stronger.”
Lindsay Thurber beat the host Charles Spencer team in the semis in three straight (25-19, 25-16, 25-15). Charles Spencer was one of the two teams to beat the Raiders in pool play.
Players on the gold medal-winning Raiders included Edyn Aasman, Lauren Bettenson, Riley de Wit, Jaiden Ferguson, Megan Kelley, Joelle Laforce, Jamie Lalor, Elyssa Leedahl, Chenee Lehman, Kyra Rawlusyk, Natalie Vega, Kira Weddell.
1A Girls
The CACHS Knights Senior Girls were also provincial champions on the weekend. They won a thrilling three-set match (25-22, 19-25, 17-15) to earn the win in the gold medal match over Bassano.
1A Boys
The CACHS Knights earned bronze at the 1A ASAA Provincial CHampionship. They knocked off Bassano in three sets (23-25, 25-15, 20-18) to win the third-place match.
4A Boys
The Notre Dame Senior Boys finished fifth, beating St. Joseph Catholic in the consolation final.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter