The Eckville Aces Men’s Volleyball team held their 2016 home tournament over the weekend.
Unfortunately, the tournament draw was shaved from eight teams down to three due to the difficult weather which swept through Central Alberta over the weekend. The Aces, despite not being able to face off against a full card, did manage to have a competitive tournament which included Rundle College out of Calgary, Olds and themselves.
Coach Cody Magneson saw the lessons that can be learned from a home tournament not going as planned.
“It was a little interesting with teams cancelling but its okay because volleyball is all about controversy,” he said. “You don’t always get your way and it doesn’t always work out perfectly. If things don’t go as expected, it is a wonderful experience for later on in the season and later on in their life.”
The Aces ended up losing in the championship game, after handily winning their first two draws. Despite the setback in the finals, Magneson was able to give his team equally distributed playing time – which will pay dividends as the season progresses.
“We played equal playing time,” he said. “It is not just about winning games – it’s making sure that we are prepared for the future.”
Aces power, #10 Isaiah Staples sees some room for improvement.
“We were pretty good - we were making a few mistakes that we need to clean up before provincials,” Staples said. “We want to get as much game time in as possible, so having these set games is helpful because it gives us plenty of practice before zones and provincials.”
Magneson reinforced the importance of growing as a team.
“Volleyball is about ups and downs, but we are generally trending in the right direction,” he said. “Right now we have to ensure that everyone peaks at the right time. We are really focusing on passing and once our passing is down - everything will fall into place.”
The Aces next step will be to compete against Southern Alberta’s best 1A volleyball players.
“Our biggest task is the Vulcan tournament,” Magneson said. “It usually gets all the best 1A teams from the south - so we will be able to see where we stack up against the south teams.”
The Senior Women’s Aces host their tournament this weekend October 21-22.
reporter@eckvilleecho.com