The senior and junior Broncs girls’ volleyball teams had a night of mixed results as they faced off against the Stettler Wildcats on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
The junior varsity team lost three close games to Stettler while Ponoka’s senior girls won their sets.
Senior girls’ coach Joely Churchill said the Broncs girls were excited to play at home this year. “It was the first game in the newly finished gymnasium, with the stands pulled out and screens on and we wanted to make sure that the atmosphere wouldn’t become too overwhelming for them.”
She says the focus that night was to work on specific short-term goals in order to stay focused throughout each match. They defeated the senior Wildcats in three sets with strong scores of 25-6, 25-20 and 25-17.
“The girls served extremely tough, keeping Stettler out of system. On our own end, we had an excellent team passing average of 2.38 which allowed us to keep attacking hard and run a variety of plays,” stated Churchill.
The senior girls played Sylvan Lake on Tuesday, Sept. 23. Churchill says the competition from Sylvan Lake has always been tough and they were eager to compete against their rivals. The final score of the game was not available at press time.
Junior girls keep the pressure on
Despite the junior girls’ being unable to defeat the junior Wildcats, Ponoka had close games in each set they played, explained coach Ron Labrie.
He has taken on the role of senior boys’ and junior varsity girls’ coach this year. The Wildcats defeated the Broncs in three sets with scores of 25-22, 27-25 and 25-22.
“Lots of steep learning curve for sure. For some of them they just haven’t played this high level of ball before,” said Labrie.
He said he wasn’t concerned though because with more training and practices he feels the team will be able to take on other opponents. Rotations and positions are still being worked out. However, their serving skills were to be commended, stated Labrie.