The Aces Rockyview Grey U15 girls volleyball team has won a national silver medal in its first season of play.

A strong playoff round lifted the team into the Division 3 finals of the nationals hosted in Edmonton earlier this month.

The RV Grey downed Vision Storm, of Manitoba, in the quarterfinals by a convincing 25-11 in the first set of a best-of-three. The Storm pushed back in the second game but the Grey prevailed with a 28-26 win for the match.

The Grey had a convincing 2-0 win against the Rhinos, of Bonnyville, AB for a shot at the gold medal.

The final against Club Ultimate of Central Alberta Queens Volleyball went to the distance. The Grey fought back after losing the first set 25-23 to win the second, 25-10. Club Ultimate capped off their drive for gold with a 15-10 win to claim the match.

It's a banner inaugural season for the first team of the Ace Volleyball Association in Rocky View, which includes many players from the Cochrane area. The team also earned a silver medal in the Alberta provincial Division 3 play, won gold in the AVA#1 Blue Division and bronze in the Rally Pointe Tournament.

Ace founder and technical director David Wildman said it was an outpouring of interest from parents and the enthusiasm of coaches Greg and Janette Solecki that lead to the club's creation. He hopes to continue to grow Ace's Rockyview program.

"We had a great response. It's a starting point for hopefully future growth so we can provide different options for kids to learn volleyball and fall in love with it."

Ace also has teams in Calgary, Foothills, Lethbridge and in B.C.'s Fraser Valley. In all, 22 of their teams competed at the nationals in their respective age groups and divisions.