The Ponoka Broncs senior girls’ volleyball team came away from Stettler without giving up a set on Tuesday, Sept. 22, though the host Wildcats made them work for each successful volley.
The girls played at William E. Hay Secondary Campus and decisively won the first set 25-14, keeping control of the ball for most of the set, leaving the Stettler girls to scramble for it.
In the second set, Stettler recovered somewhat, holding on to control of the ball long enough to pull ahead of the Broncs and bring in 12 points. However, once the Broncs regained control of the ball they didn’t let it go often, evening out the score and,with a series of successful blocks and teamwork, won the set 25-12.
Knowing the third set would make-or-break the game, the Wildcats rallied, exchanging the ball back-and-forth with theBroncs for the first 18 points. At that moment, however, a series of bad serves into the net for both teams saw the ball eventually end up back in Ponoka’s control, and the Broncs pulled ahead, eventually winning 25-21.
A fourth set, for the sake of the game, was played in exhibition before the game drew to a close.
“I’m quite pleased,” head coach Ron Labrie said of the Broncs’ performance. “There were some question marks about the team we’d put together this year. It’s very early in the season, but it’s been going well. We’ll see how it goes.”
“We were able to get some of our first- and second-year players some time on the court,” Labrie said. “Stettler’s rebuilding their program and our younger players are like their team.”
“For everything in volleyball, it’s serving and passing,” Labrie said of the areas he’s going to target in practice. “You want to serve into specific areas of the court with aggression and persistence. And if you can’t pass well,” other teams will dominate,”he noted.
The Broncs next play at home on Oct. 20, at 6 p.m., against Wetaskiwin.