Rebels girls earn provincial berth

Greg Price
Taber Times
gprice@tabertimes.com

W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls volleyball team are off to 3A provincials thanks to a gutsy south zone performance at Winston Churchill School in Lethbridge this past weekend which saw them take home silver.

The Rebels earned first place in its pool to earn them an automatic semifinal appearance, but not without some tight, close matches in-between.

The grind had the Rebels out of gas in a 23-25, 18-25 loss to Catholic Central Cougars in the 3A South Zone final.

“I think the emotional drain from the semis carried over to the final, but it is what it is. CCH had 15 players and I have nine and were I’m sure the shortest team overall on average in the league,” said Dee Schramm, head coach of the W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls volleyball team.

“But that sometimes happens too when both teams know they are going to provincials, where quite often the semis are better matches. But, the girls did awesome this weekend, I was very proud of them. You got to push and that comes through practice and mental conditioning. Volleyball is such a mental game, and it can be anyone’s game, it depends on who shows up.

The Rebels reached the final by beating LCI Clippers 25-21, 17-25, 16-14, a team they thought they would be seeing in the final.

“That was the team we wanted to see in the final. By the way things were laid out, with seeding going into zones, we thought we’d be seeing them in the final, but it ended up the semis,” said Schramm.

“That third set we were down 11-6 and came back. It was amazing volleyball, it was so intense. I got chills just thinking about it, it was so phenomenal.”

Pool play started off with a three-set win over wildcard McCoy.

“None of the top teams in our league had seen them in LCI, CCH and us this year. No one knew what to expect,” said Schramm of the eventual 25-19, 14-25, 15-13 Rebels win. “We had perfect passes and perfect sets for our 14th and 15th points (in the final set).”

What looked like it was supposed to be one of the Rebels’ easier matches against the Cardston Cougars proved to be anything but in a 22-25, 25-23, 16-14 win.

“If I remember correctly, that was the seventh time we played them through tournaments and league and they were a weaker team the last time we played them,” said Schramm.

“We handled them handily before, but they came along way, they improved a ton. Maybe it got in the girls’ heads that it was going to be an easier match and it wasn’t for them.”

Rebels finished off round-robin pool play with a 24-26, 25-18, 15-10 win over Eagle Butte to earn first in its pool.

The Rebels now have a week off to practice before 3A girls provincials in Bonnyville where the team departs Nov. 25. Check next week for a provincial preview.