Why take the back route when the front door is right there to be kicked in?
The provincial host Oilfields Drillers stamped their ticket to the Alberta Schools' Athletic Association 2A Boys Volleyball Championships with the South Central Zone banner in its back pocket after edging out the Prairie Christian Academy Sabres in a three-set battle on Nov. 19 in Black Diamond.
“It was pretty important, we wanted the feeling of us winning it and it also puts us in a better pool,” said Drillers setter Jaevon Bretzlaff. “The way the pools work, the winners get wildcards from each zone so it sets us up more for a road to success.
“That being said, all of the other teams earned their way to provincials and they’re pretty good so it’s going to be good competition and it felt good to earn our way there and not just get that go ahead that says you’re in.”
The South Central Zone championships saw Oilfields claim the top seed out of Pool A with wins over Brooks’ St. Joe’s Crusaders, Carstairs’ Hugh Sutherland Kodiaks and Strathmore’s Holy Cross Collegiate.
In the playoffs, the Drillers met a familiar foe in league rival the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans.
After a competitive first set, the Drillers took the second comfortably to advance to the final (27-25, 25-16). The Spartans went on to take the bronze medal over the Crusaders.
In the final, Oilfields would have to showcase its resiliency after the Three-Hills based Sabres took the first set with by a 25-17 count.
“First set, we just weren’t really playing our game,” said Drillers middle Karlan Fisher. “We were just making simple mistakes, missing serves and things that we could control on our own. And, I feel like, in that second and third set we got our energy back, find our groove were able to play our game, make serves and do all of the things that make a difference.”
The Drillers took back control of the match with an authoritative performance in the second set, winning 25-13 to set up the winner-take-all third set.
“Trying to be louder than them was definitely our goal,” said Drillers middle Liam Penner. “Because as soon as they get louder, you feel the pressure of them on top of you. We had to fight that and it was important to keep smiling and do our best.
“I feel like we’ve had so many close games and just haven’t quite been there. So it feels amazing that when it really matters we were able to show up.”
The third set saw Oilfields take the lead and not relinquish it with the championship point won at the net in the 15-10 set.
For Oilfields, having a decisive set go their way was particularly rewarding given its heartbreaking five-set loss to the Holy Trinity Academy Knights less than 48 hours prior in a rollercoaster Foothills Athletic Council league final.
“After that first set, we were feeling pretty down as a team, but then we just started to have fun with the game and take that pressure off ourselves,” said Bretzlaff. “That game against HTA, we were just all focused on winning and not on playing volleyball, every mistake a person made it just made us mad as a team.
“Today, as a team we didn’t worry about it. We missed a serve in the third set and just bounced back and realized we could get the points back in another way.”
Both the Drillers and Sabres will be in the field at the 2A boys provincial championships at Oilfields from Nov. 24-26.
The competition will mark the third provincial event hosted by the Black Diamond school in 2022, following girls basketball in the spring and golf in the fall.
“It came a lot faster than I expected,” said Fisher, with a laugh. “But we’ve been working all year so it feels great to finally challenge ourselves, play with the best of the best and see what we can do.”
For more information on the 2A boys provincial event, go to asaa.ca/championships.
