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Greenhill
prepares to defeat WCC title
By Jeff Hansen
St. Albert Gazette
Staff Writer
(10/19/02)
The
Greenhill Hornets are riding a winning streak the size of Texas
into Canada’s largest high school volleyball tournament.
The
defending varsity men’s champions in the Lions Western
Canadian Challenge (WCC) haven’t lost a match since the 2000
tournament final.
“If
we beat Morinville in the opening round, we will break an old
win-streak record of 84 [set in 1995-98],” said Greenhill
coach Keith Nannie.
The
eighth annual WCC tournament features 96 teams from Alberta,
British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Texas.
Matches will be played on 16 courts in 11 schools in St. Albert,
Morinville and Legal. The round robin draw starts 12:45 p.m.
Thursday at Morinville Community High School, St. Albert
Catholic High School, Bellerose Composite High School, Paul Kane
High School and Ecole Marguerite d’Youville. The Hornets have
drawn the hometown Morinville Prairie Wolves in Thursday’s 2
p.m. match.
Morinville
has two players back from last year. The Wolves were eliminated
in the second round on the championship side to the eventual
third-place winners. At the 2001 provincial high school zone
championships the Wolves tied for third place.
Greenhill,
a North Dallas private school, is making its fifth straight WCC
appearance. “The tourney is very appealing to us because it
gives us a chance to play strong competition in a very different
cultural setting. We have learned so much more than just
volleyball by competing in the WCC.
It’s
great to get away from Dallas and to travel to a different
country,” Nannie said.
Last
year’s 45-0 record, including four tournament titles and the
conference championship (state tournament), was highlighted by
the Hornets sweeping victory over the Miles Macdonell Collegiate
Buckeyes of Winnipeg in the best-of-three WCC final. In the 2000
final the Hornets fell in two games to the Brooks Bandits.
“We’re
proud of our accomplishments last year, but the kids this year
want to prove that last year was just the first in a series of
victories,” Nannie said.
“It
will be a little different this year coming in as defending
champions. Last year we had to prove we could win it. This year
we have to maintain our level of intensity, and I’m sure every
team is gunning for us.”
The
Hornets stand undefeated in 31 matches this year with seven
returning players leading the charge. The 2001 WCC tournament
MVP, setter Jeremy Jacobs, is playing university volleyball at
Stanford. Helping to fill the gap left by Jacobs’ departure
are Grade 12 co-captains Kevin Kirksey (opposite), Brennan Meier
(setter) and Ben Siegelman (Libero). “We look to be very
strong again this year,” Nannie said.
Greenhill
boasts 430 students in Grades 9 to 12 and is located in Addison,
in the North Dallas area. The school rolled out the red carpet
for its volleyball heroes upon their return from last year’s
WCC.
“We
were greeted with cheers and much adoration. Everyone was
impressed that we came away with the gold medal. We’ve also
had great support from the student body, and the win was
received well by the whole school. We had a viewing of the game
video during lunch on the day after our return and the whole
crowd cheered as if they were at the game,” Nannie said.
“This
year the homecoming festivities were moved to allow us to travel
to Canada. Originally, homecoming was scheduled for the weekend
we’re at the WCC, but the school and all administrators
decided to change the date of homecoming so we could go to
Canada without missing it. The school has put much value on this
trip to the WCC.”
Also
representing Texas at the WCC is Hockaday, an all-girls’
private school two miles from Greenhill. Thursday’s 12:45 p.m.
curtain-raiser at Morinville pits Hockaday against the Lady
Wolves. The Morinville team has four returning players from a
third-place tie at the 2001 zone championship.
Local
teams at the WCC to watch out for include the Sturgeon Spirits
in the men’s division. Spearheaded by Grade 12 captain and
power hitter Chase Allen (tournament MVP at the recent NAIT
Invitational), the Spirits sport a 2-3 mark in the Metro
Edmonton league’s Premier Conference. In the women’s
division at the WCC, the Lady Spirits, St. Albert Skyhawks and
Bellerose Bulldogs are poised for a gold-medal run. The Skyhawks
and Spirits share 4-1 records in the Premier Conference. The
Skyhawks moved up a level after capturing the 2001 City
Conference crown. The Bulldogs, runners-up to the Skyhawks in
last year’s city final, are undefeated in six City Conference
matches. They levelled the Paul Kane Blues last Thursday in
three decisive games.
Every
team in the WCC tournament is guaranteed six matches. The top
three in each of the eight round-robin pools advance to the
championship playoffs. The bottom three go to the consolation
side. Saturday’s playoff format is single knockout. The
gold-medal matches are slated for Morinville Community High
School at 6 p.m. (women) and 8:15 p.m. (men).
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