Revenge is a dish best served cold.
St. Timothy High School’s junior girls volleyball team issued some payback on Nov. 13 as they beat Crescent Heights Cowboys in the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association’s (CSHSAA) City Championship game at Bowness High School.
The win comes after Thunder’s 3-1 loss to Cowboys in the varsity girls Tier 3 City soccer championship on Oct. 23., of which, four members of the volleyball team were a part of.
“I’m very proud of these girls,” said Thunder head coach Edward Yu after the game. “They’ve all been great. They’ve worked very hard all season and have never given up.”
Looking to prove a point, Thunder crushed Cowboys in the first game (25-13) of the five-game match-up. The second game was a tougher encounter, as Thunder battled back from being five points down at one stage to win 25-19.
St. Tim’s made things difficult for themselves in the third game by going down six points early, but did their school proud as they battled back to even the gap before losing 25-20.
The fourth set sent both groups of fans into a frenzy, as a back-and-forth game ended in a heartbreaking 25-22 defeat for Thunder.
The momentum was clearly in Cowboys’ favour going into the tie-breaking match, but St. Tim’s will power, determination, and never-say-die attitude won the day as they smashed Cowboys in the final set 15-3, to bring home the title.
The team was undefeated this year (8-0 in the regular-season, 3-0 in the play-offs), a far cry from last year where the only managed to win a single game.
“Last year we only won one game,” Yu confessed. “We had a lot of grade ten’s who were overwhelmed last year, but that extra year of experience has made all the difference for them, and we were able to develop the girls into the team we have now.”
What’s next for the Thunder’s volleyball program?
“We didn’t have a senior team this year,” Yu said. “So, all of our girls here will graduate over to the senior team next year, and leave a new set of grade nine’s to take over the JV team.”
One thing for sure though, is that St Tim’s will continue to be the underdog school that makes a lot of noise.
