Synergy rebounds to win Premier Silver

Blue Synergy 1 bounded back from a slow start to finish with silver in the Alberta Volleyball sponsored event held at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, March 12 – 13. From the left, back row: Don Seale, head coach, Sydney Kubinichuck, Tristen Shaw, Taylor Fuller, Rachel Morbeck and Matthew Blouin, assistant coach.  Sitting, Hanna Norman. Front row: Tamara Ball and Rachel Seale. Missing Tailyn Parchewsky.

The girls U-16 team, Blue Synergy 1 continued its climb of provincial volleyball rankings by winning a silver medal at Premier 2. The victory came despite a poor start at the Alberta Volleyball sponsored event held at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, March 12 – 13.
“Early on, our girls simply weren’t performing well,” says Sheila Norman, team manager. “We managed to win a couple of matches (P. V. C. Hurricanes and Cochrane Jaguars), but got blasted in two others (H. A. V. C. Fernie and Brooks Elite). We certainly weren’t very consistent.”
The turning point came the following morning in a quarterfinal rematch with Brooks, a team that had easily defeated Synergy the day before.
The new match went three hard-fought sets, with Synergy pulling off the win (26 – 24, 17 – 25, 15 – 12).
A semifinal battle with Ace of Clubs Red, a Calgary club, followed an hour later. Again, it was a difficult contest throughout, but Synergy managed the victory in three (17 – 25, 25 – 18, 15 – 10).
“All of our final matches were absolute slugfests. Brooks had crushed us on Saturday, but we sent them packing in the quarters. It was so satisfying.
It was the same with Ace. We played great defense, bringing up many of their best attacks and pounding them back at them,” says Norman.
The finals against R. D. C. Queens produced the same intense action, but by this time Synergy was a tired club reduced to seven players.
“We were unable to force a third set. It was close, but we lost 25 – 23 in the second,” says Matthew Blouin, assistant coach.
“We had good momentum. It’d have been interesting to see what’d have happened if we’d gotten to a third set.”
Synergy is hosting a 10-team tournament in the Stettler Complex on Sat. April 8. Admission is free, so the club is looking forward to a good turnout.
The girls come from the communities of  Donalda, Coronation, Erskine, Forestburg, Castor and Bashaw and practice out of Stettler and sometimes Donalda.

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