The Lindsay Thurber Raiders cruised into the senior girls volleyball zone final.
They swept aside the Lacombe Rams in three straight sets (25-12, 25-10, 25-8) in the Central Alberta Schools Athletic Association zone semifinal Wednesday at Lindsay Thurber.
Led by five all-stars in the first year the league has given those honours, it was a steady and dominant performance in the victory.
“I was very pleased. They were mentally prepared for it. They understood what was on the line and I was pleased with them overall. They achieved their goal,” said Raiders head coach Kirsten Dezutter.
Edyn Aasman, Riley de Wit, Jamie Lalor, Chenée Lehman, Kira Weddell were named league all-stars for the Raiders.
Dezutter added that the focus now is staying consistent when they square off against the Notre Dame Cougars in the best-of-three CSAA Zone Final.
“We could always communicate more and we could always be that much better and that much crisper on each individual contact. Whether it’s the pass, set or hit,” Dezutter added.
“This team does have the growth mindset of, ‘I’m pleased with my effort but I’m going to do a little bit more next time’. We’re always pushing to be better.”
The Cougars advanced to the final with a strong four-set victory (25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 25-11) over the Hunting Hills Lightning.
“Coming in, we did not take them lightly and we knew we were going to have to battle. I’m just happy with their effort. Our goal was to not look too far ahead and take care of tonight,” said Cougars head coach Dana Woroniuk.
“We missed a few too many serves, we fell flat a few times, but we accomplished our goal.”
Notre Dame was cruising through the first two sets and looked prime for a sweep, but some serving errors cost them the third set. Woroniuk said in the fourth, the girls wanted to prove they belong in the final.
“They got scared after the third set,” Woroniuk said of her team.
“We said you have to play every set as if it’s the last one. When they lost, it was a bit of a reality check.”
Brooke Litwinski was the Cougars all-star nominee and the left side was big in their semifinal win.
Outside hitter Shynelle Woroniuk also played a big role in pushing Notre Dame to the final.
Avery Burgar was the Hunting Hills Lightning all-star.
Lindsay Thurber will play host to both opening games of the final, with the Raiders Senior Boys playing top-seeded Notre Dame Cougars at 8 p.m with the girls at 6 p.m on Thursday.
Friday, both teams will play at Notre Dame, with the girls starting at 6 p.m. Game 3 if necessary, will be Saturday at Lindsay Thurber.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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