Westlock area junior volleyball teams came home well decorated after competing in their respective zone tournaments on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
In the girls 3J/4J tournament in Mayerthorpe, the R.F. Staples girls took home silver, while the boys earned bronze in the same category in Morinville.
In the 1J/2J tournament in Edson the Pembina North Community School (PNCS) girls won gold, while Eleanor Hall’s girls didn’t place.
The PNCS girls returned home with a gold medal after a dominating performance at zones.
In round robin play the Panthers were perfect and earned a bye into the semifinals.
From there the girls continued their perfect streak all the way to the finals where they were crowned champions after beating Wildwood in two sets 25-17 and 25-13
“They didn’t lose a set all tournament so we came home with the gold and the banner,” said coach Michelle Rau.
She said her team came together as a unit and were able to get the result they wanted.
“They were talking to each other, they were moving their feet, and they were working as a team,” Rau said.
“When they were down, they didn’t get down on themselves, they picked each other up and kept plugging through to win the matches.
“That wasn’t happening all season so it was really nice to see them do that for our final tournament.”
Qualifying second in their pool, R.F. Staples junior high girls team put down hosts Mayerthorpe and then Parkland, on their way to the sliver medal.
“It’s very good,” said coach Kendall Ducharme. “Better than I could have even hoped for.”
Unfortunately, their quest for glory came to an end against Morinville.
Second spot on the podium capped of a great season for the team that went beyond their expectations and included a divisional title in front of their home crowd.
“Especially going into this zone tournament, you kind of need to be the best in your school division,” Ducharme said. “So we were playing the best team to come out of Hinton and the best team to come out of Edson and those areas, so you don’t play those teams all year long. We really didn’t know what to expect from the competition.”
Using the pain of not making zones in 2014, Ducharme said many players were inspired to go better this year.
“We didn’t go last year to zones so the retuning players were really happy that we went and it was a good way to end the season in a tournament of such high caliber,” she said.
Despite facing some stiff competition the R.F. Staples junior T-Birds emerged with the bronze medal.
In the round robin they defeated two of their three pool opponents, but didn’t have an answer for the tournament hosts, Morinville Community High School.
They settled for a second place in their pool and went on to defeat Whitecourt’s St. Joseph’s School in the quarterfinals in straight sets.
In the semifinals it was a tough loss to Neerlandia that sent the squad to the bronze medal game against Edson’s Parkland Composite High School.
Coach Kyle Beattie said his team ran into a hot Neerlandia team in the semis.
“We had beat them in our divisional tournament and I think they were really ready to play us and wanted to beat us,” Beattie said. “We were just maybe not ready, but they played amazing.”
Beattie said it was a good way to end the season with a win.
“I would almost rather that than to lose the final,” he said.
Eleanor Hall’s girls went to the zones in Edson, but weren’t able to find the podium following a strong effort.
Coach Curtis Thompson said he was pleased with his team’s effort in the tournament and over the course of the season.
“It was more for the experience,” Thompson said of the trip to zones.
“We had a young group and they improved a lot.”
Ultimately the Dragons gained experience from the competition as the school looks to build its volleyball program.
“The girls had fun and they played hard and they’ve all improved,” he said.
“Right now, we’re in a rebuilding stage. We had eight Grade 7 players that went and competed well.”
