The U16 Smash girl’s volleyball team shined at nationals, taking home a silver medal.
The Smash is the sole Drumheller Club Volleyball team that went to nationals this season. They were played out in Edmonton on May 24-26. The Smash played well, making it to the gold medal match in Division Two, Tier 12.
“They played awesome,” said Coach Audrey DeBona. “They practiced hard all year to get that point.”
“When they get going playing as a team they are so cohesive, they behave on the court as one unit.”
Coach DeBona explains the first day of the tournament, your team is put in a pool. On the second day, you are put in a power pool to determine the tiering. On Sunday, it is almost sudden death, where you continue to play until you are defeated.
They played teams from Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and a couple of BC teams. All of the matches were close, with a couple of points either way.
On Sunday, they topped two BC teams to go on to the final against Victoria. It came down to the last game.
“We were down a lot in the third game, and they made a huge comeback but lost 15-12,” said DeBona. “They were just on fire and got going, it was just a little too late.”
This isn’t the first time this team has competed at the national level.
“There was only one out of the 10, who had not been to nationals, some have been to the big show three times,” said DeBona, noting they won gold three years ago in Division Two.
