While the St. Mary School Sharks readily admit they would rather be biting into a gold medal this week, the team is happy with the bronze they earned at the Alberta School Athletic Association North Central Zone 1A final in Thorhild Nov. 17-18.
The Sharks finished third finish after defeating Christian Covenant Reformed School in three sets.
Coach Vance Nakonechny said that he was particularly impressed with how his team kept their composure after losing the semifinal to Thorhild 25-23, 25-21.
“We always seem to have really good games with Thorhild,” he said. “The boys were pretty disappointed with that loss. But to give the boys credit, we turned it around and won in three sets. It would have been easy for them to just say ‘You know what, we didn’t win the semifinal, let’s just go home’ but they didn’t quit. I was really proud of them.”
The amount of success they had going into zones left the team in a bit of a shock after the semifinal loss, but they rebounded in time.
“We’ve had a very good season, we’ve medaled in every tournament we went to and even won a couple of them,” he said. “Obviously they were disappointed, but we just talked about sending our Grade 12s off with a win. Winning your last high school game is something to remember positively, even if it wasn’t for the gold.”
Nakonechny heaped praise onto his graduating veterans, noting they kept the rest of the pack on target.
“Dominic Terrault, Chris Sturkenboom and Shannon Corbett really carried our team all year and they did it again this weekend,” he said.
“They’re excellent leaders and great volleyball players.”
With several graduating Sharks leaving the school for bigger prey, Nakonechny said he expects the team to continue developing with an influx of players coming up from the school’s junior leagues. Upwards of six veterans are planning to hit the courts next fall.
In the meantime, the Sharks are dispersing into other sports for the remainder of the school year.
Nakonechny said he found this particular pack of Sharks to be very coachable and a lot of fun to work with.
“They’re just a really great group of kids,” he said. “I would say it was a successful year. They worked well together and bought into the team concept.”
