How often do you get a chance to claim multiple divisional championships in one day? For Cochrane High volleyball teams it happened Friday, Nov. 9.

The Cochrane Cobras won three divisional volleyball titles and a silver medal in Super Friday Frenzy of Rocky View School Sports. All four were against Springbank teams and three were hosted at Cochrane High.

The undefeated junior boys and senior girls teams won three sets straight while the senior boys came back after losing their first set to win 3-1.

The Phoenix blocked the fourth title by defeating the junior girls team in three straight sets. The Cobras finished third in the regular season and beat the second place Chestermere Lakers, 3-2, to advance to the finals against the undefeated Phoenix.

In the Tier 2 final, the George McDougall Mustangs downed the Bow Valley Bobcats in three straight sets. Earlier in the week, the Bobcats beat the Bert Church Chargers 3-1, to advance to the final.

Cobras Junior Boys

BY winning three straight, the Cobras junior boys finished their RVS season without losing a single set.

Head coach Richard Dupre says it’s been an amazing group that rallied around the theme “everyone plays.”

“To win a divisional championship and have every single player play is pretty cool. We’re pretty excited about zones. We expect some stiff competition and the boys are pumped to be going there.”

At the Oct. 15-16 zone finals, they expect challenging matchups against Okotoks’ Foothills Composite and Brooks Composite.

“If we play our game we should be okay,” says Dupre.

Cobra Senior Girls

The senior girls defeated the Phoenix in straight sets and also didn’t lose a single set in RVS play.

In fact, they won all but one of their tournaments, most against 4A schools, and their only blemish, if you can call it that, was a silver medal at the University of Calgary tournament.

It’s been an incredible run for this group of volleyball players. Since grade 9 they won the divisional and zone titles every single year.

In fact, three of them--team captain Trinity Solecki, Taylor Clemett and Brooklyn Ceh--have played together since grade 7.

“It’s been so fun to go all the way with them on the team after having grown up together," says Solecki. "It’s been lucky for us.”

“This is an amazing group of young ladies,” says head coach Janette Solecki, who has been coaching this group of players since they entered grade 9. “They have accomplished so much.”

“These girls are competitors. They just have that drive and they work so hard. It’s really exciting to watch.”

It’s the last year for six of the nine players.

On Friday, they head to the 3A south central zone finals of the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (ASAA) being hosted by Olds. If successful, they head to the 3A provincial championship being hosted by Beaverlodge, west of Grande Prairie.

Last year they won silver in the provincials and they are aspiring to return to the tournament.

“We have to peak at the right time and make sure that we’re playing well and keep building and progressing with every match,” says Solecki. “There’s work all the way.”

The high school season serves as a warm-up for most of the players, who go on to play club until the end of May.

Cobra Senior Boys

The Phoenix senior boys team won the first set against the Cobras in another tight final between the two teams.

The first two were two-point sets and Cobras head coach Doug Jensen says it became a battle of attrition.

“We just kept digging and digging and digging and wore them out mentally, I think,” says Jensen. “We’re a very deep team. We have seven players on the floor that can do the job for us plus a whole bunch of guys that can come in off the bench.”

He says Springbank has a great team and when they’re on their game they are hard to beat.

“There has been a rivalry that has developed over the last few years. They’ve been a very good team, as have we. They have been the focus competitor in our division and give us a good fight every single time we play them.”

When the two met last year in the final it went the distance before the Cobras came out on top.

Going into the zones, Jensen believes both Springbank and Strathmore have solid volleyball teams and may offer the greatest obstacle to advancing to the provincials.

“But anything could happen in volleyball,” he quickly points out. “It’s a game of momentum.”

Jared Wunder, one of their team captains, says they’re ready for the zones, which are being hosted by Cochrane High, Nov. 16-17.

“We feel pretty good. This win puts us in first going to zones and we’re hosting it here in Cochrane so we should do well and have a good crowd.”

Wunder says they have a strong base of grade 12 players but also praises the grade 11s.

So does Coach Jensen.

“It’s always tough to decide who to put on the floor and it really comes down to who is playing well that day,” says Jensen.

“We’ve worked hard to get here and we have a lot of work left to do. Our goal is to get to the provincial championship and win zones next weekend.”