Jason Stockfish | [email protected]
Jasper鈥檚 Cougars senior boys鈥� volleyball team met a tough adversary in the Olds Royals in their bronze medal game at the Provincial Championship in Vegreville on Nov. 26.
The two squads were evenly matched and it took three nail-biting sets to determine who would take the third place finish in the prestigious tournament.
The Cougars鈥� Michael Hayashi got his team on the board first when he found an open space among the Royals, but the lead didn鈥檛 last long as Olds struck right back to even the score.
Jasper鈥檚 Kalan Sawchuck stuffed the ball down his opponents鈥� throats to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead, however the Royals again tied it up despite the near-superhuman efforts of Ethan Perepolkin as he dove across the court trying to keep the ball in play.
Sawchuck drilled a spike for his team鈥檚 third point and threw up a wall to keep the ball on Olds鈥� side for Jasper鈥檚 fourth.
The teams found themselves tied at five before Hayashi delivered a signature Hammer to make it 6-5, and then a wicked touch for the Cougars鈥� seventh.
Fawcett and Hayashi put up an impenetrable defense to give their team another, followed by a serve from Dylan Skinner that clipped the top of the net and left the Royals scrambling to gain control of the ball.
Jasper鈥檚 Ty Claxton crushed the ball into Olds鈥� court as Hayashi placed a convincing fake to give Jasper a six-point lead at 11-5, but the lead would not hold as the Royals posted the next three points.
Clearly having enough of Olds鈥� comeback efforts, Claxton leapt into the air and with the sheer force of will drove the ball through his opponents to make it 12-8.
But the Royals continued to build momentum, catching the Cougars at 15 to tie the game once again.
On the next play, Jasper鈥檚 anchor, Jacob Bouchard, received the ball when it appeared next to impossible, and Perepolkin seemingly defied gravity before obliterating the ball into one of the Royals, knocking him over like a bowling pin.
Despite the impressive skills of Jasper鈥檚 exceptional athletes, they couldn鈥檛 maintain their lead as Olds began to climb ahead.
Perepolkin nearly eviscerated the ball when he tied the first set at 23, but the Royals were able to get the next two points and the win.
The Cougars were now in a corner that they would have to dig deep to claw their way out of, because losing the next set would mean they were going home with only their pride.
Olds struck first in the second set, but Jasper quickly tied it up.
The score remained close as the two teams battled back and forth until Jasper was able to establish a four-point lead on a Claxton stuff, going up 9-5.
But Olds bounced back to make it 9-9 moments later and then proceeded to get the next two points as well.
If Jasper was going to take the set and force a third, they were going to have to draw on the adversity they had faced earlier in the tournament to find the wherewithal to win.
The Cougars took a timeout after Olds scored their tenth point, and the break in play allowed them to regroup and focus on the task at hand.
They soon took the lead, but by the time they reached 14, the Royals were right there with them.
Jasper reached 20 points first but the Royals again tied things up and posted two more unanswered after that.
The Olds鈥� players were unable to handle a serve from Skinner, which put Jasper within one at 22-23, and then Dexter Fawcett assisted Hayashi鈥檚 blistering shot to tie things once more.
Skinner soared through the air as he served up a ball that was lifted, giving Jasper 24, however the Royals got the next two and were within one point of a bronze medal finish.
A serve into the net allowed the Cougars to tie it at 25, and both teams were desperately looking to edge the other out by the required two points.
Then Hayashi somehow found an opening amongst Olds鈥� well-placed defence for point number 26, and then the Royals inability to get the ball over the net kept Jasper鈥檚 hopes alive with a 27-25 win.
The match would now require a third set to 15 points to determine which team was going home with a medal.
The final set started with an incredible opening rally before Dexter Fawcett buried a shot in the Royals鈥� court.
A long ball out-of-bounds put Jasper up 3-2, and they didn鈥檛 allow Olds to get ahead of them again after that, although they would tie it up a couple more times, most notably when they made it a heart-stopping 13-13.
The Cougars went up 14-13 after Claxton鈥檚 persistence and determination allowed him to hammer in the second last nail.
As Jasper was one point away from victory, the Royals called a final time out in hopes that they could slow the Cougars鈥� momentum.
But Jasper was having none of it.
Claxton had two valiant efforts to finish off the Royals, but it was Perepolkin who would deliver the final blow and give the hometown kids their much-deserved bronze medal in what was the Jasper senior boys鈥� first-ever appearance at the volleyball Provincial Championship.
On Monday morning, these boys will be back at their desks in school, appearing as if they are just some regular dudes who do not possess near-superhuman abilities, but anyone who saw what they accomplished this past weekend in Vegreville will know better.
