R.F. Staples junior high volleyball teams ruled the floor Wednesday at the 16-team Pembina Hills divisional championships tournament at the Rotary Spirit Centre.
And while the T-Birds soared to gold, the Panthers from the Pembina North Community School were solid as they both brought home bronze medals.
In the round robin the R.F. Staples boys defeated PNCS, Edwin Parr Composite School and Eleanor Hall School in two sets.
In bracket play the boys took on Neerlandia’s Covenant Canadian Reformed Christian School in the quarterfinals and moved on to play Barrhead Composite High School in the semifinals.
In the championship game the Thunderbirds faced Neerlandia, who were also undefeated. R.F. Staples took the first set, but Neerlandia responded to win the second, forcing a third and final set.
The boys rebounded to take the final set and the championship.
Coach Kyle Beattie said the victory was overdue after some recent struggles.
“We’ve been struggling for the last month or so, and they’ve finally put it together,” he said. “We played really well as a team and that was nice to see.”
He said the key to victory was cohesive team play.
“Our passing improved, it allowed us to run lots of attacks,” he said. “They played well right from the start, pretty much.”
The girls quest for back-to-back divisional titles started with in the round robin with two-set wins over BCHS, CCRS, and EHS.
Moving into bracket play in the afternoon, the T-Birds flew past EPC in the quarterfinals and advanced to play PNCS in the semis.
Continuing on their winning ways, the girls caged the Panthers to face Neerlandia in the finals.
The girls lost the first set, won the second and then the third to claim the title.
“The game was so tight, it could have gone either way,” said coach Kendall Ducharme recalling the final versus Neerlandia. “They were consistent, they worked hard, and they wanted it.”
Overall, Ducharme said it was a great day for her squad.
“They tried hard for every ball, they ran after every ball and got it up,” she said. “They were aggressive and made attacks.”
The Panthers took two of their three round robin games and emerged in second place from their pool.
Coach Kris Raymond said after a poor start his team showed signs.
“They were playing with low confidence, low self-esteem very early on and then just decided to rise up and they gave it their all, which was really nice to see,” Raymond said.
In the playoffs the boys downed St. Mary School in the quarterfinals, then lost to Neerlandia in the semifinals.
In the bronze-medal match, PNCS made quick work of Barrhead.
“It’s always nice to end the season on a positive note,” Raymond said.
“They didn’t give up and they played their best.”
After winning two of their three round robin matches, the Panthers finished second in their pool.
Coach Michelle Rau said the team rallied together after some tough moments early on.
“They came together as a team and tried to be positive and give it their all.”
Following a victory over BHCS in quarterfinals action the girls the undefeated T-Birds.
Despite a valiant effort, they were relegated to play for third against CCRS. They only required two sets to capture the bronze medal.
“They had to push through fatigue, but they pushed through and did it in two sets,” Rau said. “They made some good choices.”
Eleanor Hall School sent two squads to the event.
The boys picked up a win against EPC on their way to fourth in their pool before bowing out in the quarterfinals.
Coach Curtis Straub said it was good for the team to take part in the competition, even though most of the school’s athletes were in the lower junior grades.
“Those tournaments are tough for us as we mainly have a grade 8 team,” he said. “But they had a good day.
“It was a good chance for the kids to play. Especially for our kids it’s nice to give them a chance get out and play some of the bigger schools.”
The girls squad couldn’t grind out a victory on the day but still made it through to the finals where they went down to Neerlandia.
Both teams from St. Mary School had decent days on the floor.
The girls team took third in their pool based on set wins but fell to CCRS in the quarterfinal.
“They played really well,” said coach Nora McGaughey. “They were determined to win but couldn’t quite pull it together.
“Our girls played their best and gave it a good effort they won a few sets, and lost a few.”
The boys also finished third in the round robin, but fell to PCNS to end their season.
Coach Ty Snell said he saw lots of improvement from club.
“We had some struggles throughout the year, but I think in the tournament we played the best volleyball we did all year,” he said.
“Some of the younger guys got to see some pretty good volleyball being played against some of the bigger schools.”
