Chargers, Saints in rebuilding mode

Keyana Calahasen of the St. Andrew’s Saints returns the ball to the Ridgevalley Raiders during a game at St. Andrew’s School Oct. 4.

Mac Olsen
South Peace News

High Prairie’s senior volleyball teams struggled for wins in the 21st annual E.W. Pratt invitational Oct. 3-4. The E.W. Pratt Chargers and St. Andrew’s Saints played against teams from Beaver Lodge, High Level, Slave Lake, Valleyview and other communities. On the girls’ side, the Chargers placed third in Pool C and the Saints placed fourth in Pool B. On the boys’ side, the Saints placed second and the Chargers placed third in Pool E. The High Level Bears and the Beaver Lodge Royals played in both finals. In the girls’ final, the Royals won the gold medal and the tournament banner, while the Bears received the silver medal. The boys’ teams battled for every point in their final. However, the Bears edged the Royals 16-14 in the third game to take the gold medal and the tournament banner. The Royals received the silver medal. Trevor Cisaroski, the Chargers boys’ coach, was impressed with the finals. “They were fantastic finals,” says Cisaroski. “If people missed the boys’ final, they missed what volleyball is all about. When a game goes to three and the score in the last match is 16-14 and the point is finished by an attack kill from High Level, it was exciting to watch.” As for his team, Cisaroski says this is a rebuilding year. The Chargers girls’ team is comprised of many rookies, but assistant coach Carla Badger praises their performance for this tournament. “They’re a very fresh team, we only had two returning players,” says Badger. “It’s very early in the season and the girls did absolutely phenomenal. They really stepped up to par and their serves were excellent.” Before the next tournament, she and coach Melanie Humber will work on team conditioning and ensure the players communicate with each other on the court. The St. Andrew’s coaches praise their teams too, especially the boys’ coach, Charles Anderson. “We won two out of three games on our last day,” says Anderson. “We started pulling together as a team. A couple of more games and we’ll be a team to be reckoned with.” Only a few on the girls’ team played senior volleyball before, but assistant coach Dallas Chelick is happy they won the consolation pool. “We just figured this first tournament would be a building block and from there it would get better as the season went,” says Chelick. The out-of-town teams praise this tournament as well run and they look forward to coming next year, according to e-mails Cisaroski received. He thanks the staff, volunteers and officials who worked on it.

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