The Cochrane High Cobras varsity girls' volleyball team win last night paved the way to hosting the divisional gold medal game on Nov. 8 against the W. H. Croxford Cavaliers.

They clinched the berth after beating the Bow Valley Bobcats in three straight sets, 25-21, 25-10 and 25-15. 

The W. H. Croxford Cavaliers defeated the Phoenix in straight sets last night (25-12, 25-15, 25-15) in the other semifinal matchup.

volley 1Madison Abougoust blasts a shot deep within the Cobras end.

The Cobras finished first in the regular season by the slimmest of margins over the Cavaliers. Both teams had a 5-1 record and the Cobras 3-2 win over the Cavaliers was the deciding factor.

That should make for an exciting rematch.

Cobras co-captains Rory Bell and Taryn Sieben say the team is fired up for the gold medal game.

"We're excited," says Sieben. "I think we're going to bring our 'A' game and see how it goes, but I have faith in our team, so I think we'll do well." 

Both teams had fired up fans in the stands for the Cobras-Bobcats match, making for a highly-charged atmosphere.

"There's always an in-town rivalry between the Bobcats, friendly of course, but we always get a really big crowd," says Cobras co-captain Rory Bell. "It makes it a lot more energetic and a lot more fun."

volleyball 2

Bobcats head coach Mike Fries says his team put it all on the line last night and speaks highly of the growth he's seen in their play.

"The girls have played excellent this year and we've seen a lot of growth out of all the girls, so it's really good to see the fantastic players and fantastic people."

There's plenty of play ahead for the Bobcats. On Nov. 8, they're playing for the divisional bronze medal against the Springbank Phoenix before competing in the ASAA south-central zone championship.

In the regular season, the Cobras won the match between the two Cochrane teams 3-1. The Bobcats were 3-3 on the season, losing to the Phoenix in straight sets in the last week of the regular season.

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, CochraneNow encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the CochraneNow app.