BONNYVILLE – It has been a remarkable season for the École Notre Dame High School’s senior girls' volleyball team. The group recently returned home with their sixth tournament gold medal of the year.
The Notre Dame Wildcats travelled southwest to take part in the Rumble in the Rock Tournament held in Rocky Mountain House over the Nov. 4 weekend.
Taking part in their final regular season tournament, the Wildcats faced some of their toughest competition to date.
The Bonnyville team came head-to-head with their southern rivals, Vauxhall High School, who knocked the Notre Dame senior girls out of the podium standings last year in the bronze medal game at the 2A Provincial Championship.
The two powerhouse teams faced off twice during the weekend tournament after being placed in the same open pool group.
On Saturday morning, the Wildcats notched the first loss of the season after coming up short against Vauxhall High School in both sets. The match was the end of Notre Dame girls’ 36-0 game winning streak.
Having lost, the Wildcats were seeded second in their pool and played against Peace River in the quarterfinals.
“The Wildcats made quick work of them, advancing to the semis versus Ponoka's St. Augustine,” said Scott Cameron, the Wildcats’ coach.
The Bonnyville team would go on to dominate the courts again, winning straight sets with scores of 25-10, 25-10 against the Ponoka team.
“Waiting for the 'Cats in the final, as anticipated, was Vauxhall who also cruised through their quarter and semifinal matches with relative ease on the other side of the bracket,” said Cameron. “The gold game would be an epic battle.”
Vauxhall came out fast off the start, building a comfortable 22-14 lead and threatening to run away with the game early on. But Notre Dame replied with a massive 9-1 run to tie the set 23-23.
Vauxhall escaped with a 26-24 win in the gold medal game’s first set.
"The Notre Dame ladies had momentum on their side and came out hungry in set two, building a 15-10 lead that would hold up for a 25-21 win,” recounted the coach.
The third set would swing back and forth to the bitter end.
“The teams switched sides with Vauxhall up 8-6, but the 'Cats quickly answered with a stuff block and ace serve to take the lead 10-9.”
In a nail-biting game, the teams traded points through scores of 11-11, 13-13 and 14-14 before Vauxhall edged ahead 15-14.
In the end, the Wildcats dug in, scoring the last three points to muscle out a 17-15 victory.
The win was Notre Dame's sixth straight tournament gold medal finish. The senior team has wrapped up regular season play having won every single tournament they entered with a win-loss record of 39-1.
The Wildcats will now turn their attention to 2A Zones, which will take place in Vegreville on the Nov. 18-19 weekend.
Wildcats' junior girls' volleyball team takes LSAA District championship banner
Notre Dame’s junior girls' Grade 10 volleyball team brought home the Lakeland Schools Athletic Associations (LSAA) 2022 District championship banner while competing at J.A. Williams High School (JAWS) on Nov. 8.
The Wildcats’ Grade 10 team battled for the district banner in the gold medal game against the JAWS Grade 9 Junior girls’ team.
Taking home the 2022 LSAA championship banner in the junior boys’ division was the École Plamondon School Hawks, who faced off against the JAWS junior boys' team in the finals.
