The Davidson Raiders senior girls volleyball team showed plenty of determination and great sportsmanship against the Hepburn Hawks at the West Regional Championship Nov. 9 in Wilkie, but still couldn’t match the strong Hawks play on the court.

The Raiders lost 25-17 in the first set and 25-11 in the second against the Hawks giving Hepburn a 2-0 win. The loss put an end to Davidson’s hopes of bringing home a provincial title this year.

“At the Regional Championship, I thought Hepburn was the best team there and they played consistently well the whole day,” said Raiders head coach Tony Baldwin. “I was disappointed that we lost in two straight games after giving them a run for their money (Nov. 2 at the Conference Championship), but they were definitely the best team there on Saturday.”

Baldwin said the girls’ overall play during the Regional Championship was a step down from what they have displayed over the past few weeks. He said they won their first game against the Kerrobert Rebels “quite easily” posting a two-set victory with scores of 25-16 and 25-20, but even then they weren’t playing up to their potential.

The Raiders coach said the girls’ next game against Leader was a struggle with Davidson winning the first set by a close score of 26-24, but lost the next two 25-20 and 25-23 setting up the first round playoff match with Hepburn. Against the Hawks, Baldwin said there were six players for his club that stood out the most even though they didn’t see much playing time.

“Kari Van de Wiele, Katelyn Riecken, Cheyenne Nordmarken, Tina Stone, Sydney Booker and Elise McJannet were absolutely the standouts of the day,” he said. “The six of them stood and cheered and overpowered the entire group of Hepburn fans during both games where we were struggling on the court and Hepburn was playing great. Everyone would rather be on the court, (but) the fact that they were totally engaged in the game and their team in this context is a credit to all of them as individuals and to the team as a group. I was very proud of them.”

To read more please see the November 18 print edition of The Davidson Leader.