Alberta girls gain valuable experience

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In the volleyball championships at the sweltering Blaine High School, Alberta's juvenile girls overcame some hardships on the way to a bronze medal. Led by the consistency of Terri-Lynn Cunningham of Gift Lake, Alta., and the power of Blaine Cardinal-Mooswa of Saddle Lake, Alta., the team got into the playoffs, only to lose a close match to Saskatchewan before defeating Manitoba in the consolation final.

"We had the skill and the talent to win," said coach Liz Poitras of Elk Point. "But we didn't have the team feeling. We didn't have time to build up a chemistry because we weren't together before this. We didn't practice enough as a team."

The team wasn't able to fulfill its job of score keeping after losing to Saskatchewan in the semi-final, so they entered the consolation game against Manitoba with a five-point penalty already against them. They quickly lost the first game of the best-of-three match.

But they showed their mettle in the next two games, coming to life to edge Manitoba in the second and third games to take the only medal within their reach. In the championship game, the Northwest Territories, which had knocked Manitoba into the consolation round, beat Saskatchewan, who went home with the silver.