Playoff volleyball has hit Ponoka Secondary.
The Broncs senior girls squad finished off their regular season last week with a match to decide the league’s top spot as they hosted Sylvan Lake at PSC on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Both teams came into the final regular season match with unbeaten records, Unfortunately for the Broncs, they had trouble handling the Lakers big serves and their lone big hitter - and blocker - in the middle and lost in three straight sets.
“We really struggled on serve reception as the Sylvan team’s serves were more than we could handle,” said Broncs head coach Ron Labrie.
“In addition, the hitting and blocking excellence of Sylvan’s #14 was overpowering at key times.”
That left the Broncs to finish second in the Central Alberta Schools Athlete Association (CASAA) league and has them entering the zone playoff - set for Saturday, Nov. 21 - as the number two seed. The team also went to Calgary for a tournament this past weekend as a tune up for the zones.
“We lost in three sets in the semi finals,” explained Labrie of the tournament.
“Overall, we had a strong weekend. I was able to use the entire roster and it was definitely a collective effort. We certainly displayed strong passing and our ball control inside the three-metre line was excellent. This is great news as we head into our zone playdowns.”
He added the girls are confident that we can capture the zone title and make a return to the provincial championships, which will be held in Bonnyville on November 26-28.
JVs win consolation title
And the season came to an end for the Broncs junior varsity girls volleyball team, who finished things off on a high note as they captured the consolation side of the league playoffs, held in Stettler on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
The girls first had to beat Wetaskiwin, who were seeded ahead of them, then took on Red Deer’s Lindsay Thurber and come out on top two sets to one.
“It was a great way to finish the year with two big wins over two very good teams. The girls played their best volleyball of the year,” added head coach Tim Corkery.