Cougars, Rams book their tickets to provincials

By Lethbridge Herald on November 24, 2025.

Submitted Photo The Catholic Central Cougars varsity boys volleyball team poses with the 4A South Zone banner.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Catholic Central Cougars varsity boys volleyball team continued  their consistent strong play over the weekend as they took home the School Sport Alberta 4A South Zone Championship after sweeping Winston Churchill High School (25-15,25-14, 25-21) in the final on Saturday at Medicine Hat High School.

The Cougars have been the # 1 ranked in the province all season.

“We were pretty confident going in that we had a good chance of winning,” said Matt Hammel, Cougars  head coach.

“We had a conversation as a team before the tournament and had a goal that we really shouldn’t lose a set during zones and we actually succeed in that.”

Hammel thought the passing was the best he had seen it in a little while.

“ That was big for our team,” said Hammel.

The zone victory helped the Cougars with groundwork for provincials in terms of what needs to be done when they do face tougher teams at provincials.

 “Just thinking about what they’re gonna look like and how we can change what we do to try and match that,” said Hammel.

“We made a couple line-up adjustments to try and balance out our line-up a little bit, and we tried that out in zones and I think we’ll keep rolling with that during provincials.”

CCH play Strathmore, the provincial host École McTavish and Red Deer’s Hunting Hills in the round robin portion of provincials.

The School Sport Alberta 4A volleyball provincial championships run from Nov. 27-29 at École McTavish High School in Fort McMurray.

The CCH girls will be joining the boys team at provincials after they were awarded a wild card berth after winning the silver medal on their side of the South Zone tournament.

The Cougars have held steady at the top of the 4A provincial rankings all season long and Hammel spoke about why they have been at the top.

“I think getting out and playing some good teams  is a big thing,” said Hammel.

“So we’ve played a lot of high-ranked 5A schools, and we’ve beat a lot of them and had really close matches with other ones.”

In 5A South Zone championship action, the LCI Rams varsity boys volleyball team knocked off the Chinook Coyotes in five sets (25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-12) to take home the inaugural 5A South Zone banner on Friday at Chinook High School.

“We had a pretty hard …, pretty evenly matched game against Chinook High School ,” said Dustin McCubbing, Rams head coach.

“It was quite exciting to get tested and come out on top.”

 A high percentage of side outs, which allows for the next point to be served by the receiving team after winning a rally , is what was  key for the Rams.

“We were able to neutralize Chinook’s three spin servers (a jump serve with lots of spin) who had given us trouble in the past,” said McCubbing.

The Rams also brought a middle attack that was strong.

“Which put Chinook in trouble because they were a little weaker in the middle for defence,” said McCubbing.

The Rams will look to improve their serving ahead of provincials later this week.

“We need to get our serving a little bit more confident and consistent,” said McCubbing.

“We’re gonna have to serve aggressively to compete against some of the other teams at provincials.”

The Rams will head to the  School Sport Alberta 5A Volleyball Provincial Championships at Red Deer’s Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School beginning Thursday.

The Rams will be joined by the Chinook Coyotes varsity girls team at provincials  who defeated their LCI counterpart for the 5A South Zone title earlier on Friday.

Coaldale Christian (1A) and  Magrath (2A) along with the local  wild card team Immanuel Christian (2A) earned berths in their respective provincial championships on the varsity girls side.

Coaldale Christian (1A), St. Michael’s-Pincher Creek, Prairie Winds and wildcard teams Immanuel Christian (2A), Stirling (1A) and  Livingstone (1A) earned berths to their respective provincial championships on the varsity boys side.