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Sir John Franklin wins three banners, St. Pat's two in Senior Spike It!

There's always a chance Yellowknife will end up with the majority of the banners in a school championship and that was the case again in volleyball.

Charlene Sobrepena, right, lunges to keep the ball alive as Emily Carroll provides back-up during the girls U15 AA final of Senior Spike It! at Sir John Franklin Gymnasium on Sunday.
James McCarthy/NNSL photo

Sir John Franklin and St. Pat's ended up with multiple banners in the Senior Spike It! finals on Sunday. Sir John took three in total: the boys U15 AA and both banners in the U19 girls division. The Falcons ended up beating East Three Secondary from Inuvik in the A final in straight sets, while the AA squad also downed St. Pat's in straight sets for that win.

Paul Shearme coached both Falcons teams to victory, starting with the A division squad, which won 2-0. But he said it wasn't an easy straight-sets win and things never felt comfortable.

“I can remember during a timeout telling the girls that the game felt a lot closer than the score indicated,” he said. “We had some good runs in there but nothing huge and that's probably where that feeling came from.”

Sir John Franklin won the opening set, 25-14, and the second by a 25-20 count, which looks like a strong win but Shearme said Inuvik was just as capable of going on a run at any time.

“I told the girls they could go on a run just like we could,” he said. “If we don't have those scoring runs, it's an even game.”

The AA squad was also in a tough spot facing an equally seasoned St. Pat's team. In fact, the two units are so strong, combined they make up the majority of the Canada Summer Games girls' team.

“There's lots of experience on both sides of the court,” said Shearme. “I told my girls they won't roll over and it was a battle early on.”

Sir John Franklin, though, opened up the first set strong and went on to win it, something Shearme said was important.

“We started out on the serve well and that was key, because it put some pressure on them,” he said.

There was no fast start in sets two and three as St. Pat's managed to carve out big leads in both. But Sir John was able to chip away at them in each set and managed to come out on top in the end.

“Our girls showed some good resilience,” said Shearme. “We got down by as many as nine points in the third set but there was no panic from the girls. They showed real good composure and that was good to see.”

St. Pat's, meanwhile, snagged two banners, both at the expense of Sir John. The U15 Irish boys took the A banner, while the U15 girls' team downed Sir John in straight sets to win theirs.

Rob Hart was the bench boss for the U15 girls and said it was a struggle.

“Every set was ridiculously tough,” he said. “Even in the third set, we had a huge lead and we're looking good but the Falcons got some good serving and they're right back in the game.”

The opening set went past the requisite 25 points, as the Irish won out 29-27. Set no. 2 also went the way of St. Pat's, along with the third, but not without a couple of questionable line calls going against Sir John.

Hart said he doesn't think those calls changed the course of the set.

“As I've always said, we coaches seem to know the right call from the bench,” he said. “It went both ways but I don't think our girls gained any sort of advantage from those late calls. Sir John Franklin responded well also.”
The final was a rematch of the Lawrie Hobart Memorial Volleyball Tournament decider in Fort Smith last month. Sir John won that one.

Revenge may have been on the mind of the girls, said Hart, but not for him.

“Two-thirds of our team went down there and Sir John was missing some of their impact players, so we knew we were similar,” he said. “The girls were talking about it, though, that's for sure.”