The bronze medal-winning F.P. Walshe Flyers, back row, from left: assistant coach Sarah Cowley, Addy Van Herk, Faith Hewlett, Maddy Van Buuren, Kinsley Herweyer, Kenni Smith, Jaya Sharma, Alexa Van Herk, and head coach Michael McTighe. Front row, from left: Nevayah Fox, Lydia Burdett, Alexandra Mariano, Ashlynn Oberkirsch and Savannah Cervo.
The F.P. Walshe Flyers claimed the bronze medals Saturday night at the junior high A girls volleyball zone playoff tournament in Taber.
The Flyers are Alexandra Mariano, Maddy Van Buuren, Kenni Smith, Kinsley Herweyer, Lydia Burdett, Jaya Sharma, Addy Van Herk, Savannah Cervo, Nevayah Fox, Lily Van Ee, Faith Hewlett, Alexa Van Herk and Ashlynn Oberkirsch.
The Flyers began the tournament Saturday in Pool B with Taber St. Mary’s Auroras, Taber Christian Titans and Immanuel Christian Eagles.
Pool A was made up of J.T. Foster Raiders from Nanton, W.R. Myers Rebels from Taber, Irvine Tigers and Willow Creek Composite Cobras from Claresholm.
In their first match the Flyers grounded Immanuel Christian Eagles in two sets.
The Flyers won the first set 25-14 and completed the sweep with a 25-23 decision in the second set.
F.P. Walshe lost their second match in a hard-fought battle with Taber Christian.
The Flyers won the first set 25-16 but dropped the next two 25-23 and 15-13.
In the final round-robin match the Flyers beat St. Mary’s in three sets.
The Flyers won the first set 25-20 but lost the second 25-23, before winning the match with a 15-13 win in the third set.
Taber Christian placed first in Pool B with a record of 6-2, followed by F.P. Walshe (5-3), St. Mary’s (4-5) and Immanuel Christian (1-6).
J.T. Foster (6-0) was first in Pool A, followed by Irvine (4-2), Willow Creek Composite (2-4) and W.R. Myers (0-6).
Their second-place finish in round-robin sent the Flyers into a quarterfinal match against Willow Creek Cobras.
The Cobras beat the Flyers 25-16 in the first set, but F.P. Walshe won the next two sets 25-10 and 15-8.
The Flyers advanced to a semifinal match against the unbeaten J.T. Foster Raiders.
The Raiders swept the Flyers 25-12 and 25-18, sending F.P. Walshe to the bronze medal match.
Waiting for the Flyers were the Irvine Tigers, who lost to Taber Christian in the other semifinal match.
The bronze medal match was hard-fought, with the Flyers winning the first set 25-23 only to have the Tigers roar back to win the second set 26-24.
F.P. Walshe prevailed 16-14 in the deciding set.
J.T. Foster Raiders beat Taber Christian to win the zone title.
