PLAMONDON - The Plamondon Volleyball Club (PVC) Wolfpack U14 girls finished the season as provincial champions in their division by winning gold at the Alberta championships in Red Deer over the April 19 weekend.
The Plamondon-based team with players from across the Lakeland was one of 19 volleyball clubs that participated in the provincials. The team, said head coach Doug Webster, finished round-robin play in second place of their division. They won their next game that put them into the semi-final round.
Winning in the semifinals pitted the Plamondon Volleyball Club against a club team from Rocky Mountain House in the final round. The Rocky Mountain House team hadn’t lost a game all tournament going into the finals, said Webster.
They continued that win streak, beating the Wolfpack 25-20 in the opening set. But that’s as far as they got. The Wolfpack fought back – overcoming some early series jitters - to win the next two sets 25-15 and 15-10.
“It was a good match,” Webster said, explaining that the team was nervous going into the final “but they managed to pull through and get the job done.”
Overall, the head coach said the U14 girls did very well at the tournament, adding that the team had been having a strong season, most recently winning a bronze medal at Edmonton’s WP Wagner Warriors invitational tournament. Going into the provincials, he continued, the team knew it should be somewhere near the top.
“We knew that we should place well…and you know we weren’t sure just how well…and well, we ended up winning gold,” he said. “So, it was a good way to end the season.”
Tryouts for the season, Webster said, got underway in December, with many local girls trying out for the team. The Wolfpack started training in January, with practices running twice a week. Following this were the premier tournaments and then provincials. The squad also had a young roster for this year’s winning season.
“Overall, it was a really good season. They showed up to practice on a consistent basis, and they worked really hard,” he said.
While the U14 PVC Wolfpack players are finished for the season, the U15 girls still have a few more engagements on the court. Webster said the U15 Provincials will be taking place in Edmonton from May 3-4. The U15 girls will be heading back to Edmonton on the May long weekend for the Nationals.
