LVC U14 team vaults to top ranking

By Lethbridge Herald on April 3, 2025.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The Lethbridge Volleyball Club Blue U14 team pose after winning one of their gold medals this season.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

You may not hear often about a young club volleyball team being the No. 1 ranked team in a province, however, for one Lethbridge team, they have achieved that status.

The Lethbridge Volleyball Club U14 Blue girls’ team have vaulted up the charts to the No. 1 team in the province heading into provincials later this month thanks to the success they have had at the three premier tournaments this season.

The U14 Blue obtained the top ranking after finishing first out of 137 teams in Alberta after completing their three premier tournaments with a 20-1 record.

“First of all, we have a team there (that) are physically really strong,” said Alison Pilsner, head coach.

“Secondly, I think we have the mental capacity, where we’re a mature group that are really mentally tough and we’re driven.”

Thirdly, the team is made up of nice people.

“They wanna do what’s best for the team, it’s not about one individual,” said Pilsner.

“They work really well together, and I think that’s what stands out best and probably puts us ahead of most other teams.”

While the premiers have different divisions in them, if a team is to have any success, according to Pilsner, they should be in Division I.

“If you wanna be the top of the top, you gotta be in Division 1 and for us, it’s just fighting to stay at the top,” said Pilsner.

Most of this team has been building towards this success for three years since starting out at the U12 level together.

“They’re physically getting stronger but they’re understanding the game,” said Pilsner.

“We work a lot on in system, out of system, types of plays in practice and you can see it in the games. They just know what to do at the right time.”

The LVC Blue will go into the year-end provincials ranked No. 1 and know they have a target on their back.

“I say that we’ll have a bit of a target on our back,” said Pilsner.

“The key message I give to my players is worry about what’s going on our side of the net (and) I’ll tell you where to go if we need to make some adjustments on the court. But just play our game and I honestly have no concerns about how we’re gonna do if we do that.”

Pilsner has been all about development with these kids.

“This isn’t about winning everything for me, but we’re kinda getting there just by creating a team that likes one another, that has fun and I really wanna develop them,” said Pilsner.

“I’m really working on some basic skills so that they have that as they move forward in their volleyball careers.”