Players from small, local towns overpowered three city teams on route to tournament gold last weekend.
The S.W.C. Wildfire 18U boys’ team marched past teams from Saint Albert, Red Deer and Camrose in the “Controlled Burn” Club Volleyball Tournament held at Bashaw School, on April 26.
“Coaches of city teams generally have many players to choose from at tryouts," said Coach Don Seale. "The fact that our few boys come from small centres like Alix, Bashaw and New Norway, and that one of our key hitters was out with an injury, makes this win even more impressive."
Successive straight-set wins against Westlock V.C. (25-21, 25-21), Saint Albert Thunder (26-24, 27-25), and Red Deer Kings (25-23, 27-26) qualified Wildfire for the Finals.
“We lost to each of these teams when we played them at the last Premier in Edmonton, but not this time,” said Jayce Worth, Captain. “This is definitely the best we’ve played, and there’s more in the tank.”
Wildfire had a tougher time in the Finals against the Camrose Vikings, a team it had split with in the Round Robin (26-24, 22-25).
The match went to three hard-fought sets. The Wildfire took an early lead in the third set, and carried it through for the win (25-21, 17-25, 15-11).
