You’d think you would have an advantage on your home floor.
When assessing the quality teams at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association South Central Zone 3A varsity boy’s volleyball tournament at Cochrane High School, home floor means little.
Cochrane Cobras varsity boy’s volleyball head coach Doug Jensen understands this, taking nothing for granted at the Nov. 14-15 meet in his gym.
His team set goals at the beginning of the season and, to this point, has methodically met them – one set at a time.
“We have three goals this season. One is to win divisionals. That’s a check mark for us. Two is to win Zones and three is to make it to provincials,” Jensen said. “We have to win Zones to make it to provincials.”
His Cobras qualified for the Zone tournament as Rocky View Sports Association Division 3A varsity boy’s champs, claiming an epic five-set final win Nov. 4 over visiting Springbank – the same gritty Phoenix team at Cobradome this weekend serving up more disruptive antagonism at Zones.
Joining Springbank at Cobradome for Zones are Holy Trinity Academy of Okotoks, Airdrie’s Bert Church, Canmore, Brooks and High River’s Highwood. Of the seven teams in the gym, one advances as South Central Zone champion to the Nov. 20-21 provincial tournament in Fort McMurray.
For Cobras, there is only one road to provincials. Win and you’re in.
“There is no back door,” Jensen remarked of provincial qualifying. “This year our Zone only has one spot and you have to win the Zone to get to provincials.”
His team is battle-tested in playoffs already, going the distance in a five-set match vs. Sprngbank in the Division final.
“That was a game of highs and lows throughout,” Jensen said of his team’s Division win. “Springbank turned the heat up on us. They played fantastic in the final three sets. I’m not sure if we fell asleep, or thought we had it in the bag. That’s typical in volleyball. It happens a fair bit. It’s a game of momentum. It’s a game of emotion. It’s tough to control that.”
His 12-man roster features skilled athletes at all positions. His outside power hitters include Nick Berscht, Ross Mills and Luke Harvey. Running the floor is setter Gord West.
“He’s the floor general,” Jensen said of West. “He runs the floor and makes all the choices. He’s like the quarterback on a football team and gets to decide the flow of the game and who gets the ball.”
But Jensen is quick to point out his team’s depth.
“Even the secondary role guys are key,” he said. “We’re a deep team.
“This is what we’ve been working towards all year long. We kind of figured this is our year. We want to go to provincials. We have it in our hands and in our capability. We just have to go out and perform. This is the way we want it to be.
“We’re looking forward to it.”
