The Foothills Athletic Council volleyball season came to a close in Okotoks on Thursday evening.
The Foothills Falcons overcame the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School Spartans in a home win, claiming the Foothills Athletic Council senior boys volleyball banner on Nov. 7 after four sets of action.
The Falcons took the first two sets 25-24 and 25-23, respectively, with the two evenly-matched teams consistently staying within one or two points of one another in that first half.
"I think we had a pretty good idea of what we were facing," said Falcons coach Jeremy Davies on the number-two seed Spartans. "We kind of had a game plan against these guys and I feel like we stuck to our game plan and what we wanted to achieve pretty well."
The tide appeared to have turned at the halfway point, with the Spartans rebounding to claim the third set 25-21.
"Letting that third set slip away was a bit of a downer for us, but I think I feel like our main focus as we turned into that fourth set was just kind of zero-zero mentality back on the scoreboard and just to get back to our grit game and swing hard," said Davies.
Jaxon Corry, who captains the Falcons alongside Daniel Hauser, saw that as a critical turning point in the match.
"We just realized that we needed to step up and want to win it," he said.
That's exactly what the Falcons did, with the team maintaining a comfortable lead throughout the fourth set, ending it at 25-17.
"We just decided to lock in and just really go for that last win," said Corry.
The silver-medal Spartans had been looking to share the success of the senior girls' volleyball team after their win for STS on Wednesday evening.
"We were just outplayed by the other team, but I think we played well," said Spartans player Andrew Pelligrino.
"We picked up the energy, we had some motivation overall, and we were able to pick it up and push through, and we were able to get ahead," he said on the team's performance in the third set.
Both teams are set to compete in the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association South Central Zone championships. The 4A-division Falcons will play at W.H. Croxford High School on Nov. 17 and 18, while the 2A Spartans are headed to Three Hills on Nov. 15 and 16.
Learn more about the Foothills Athletic Council and Alberta Schools' Athletic Association on their websites.
