The Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) girl's volleyball team won the 3A Northeast Zone Championship on Nov. 22, capping off five gold medals, winning tournaments in Fort Saskatchewan, Lac La Biche, Cold Lake and their home tournament in Bonnyville.
“Their compete level has been extremely high this year,” said head coach and BCHS Principal Corey Baker. “They are all really committed to the team. They realize that it is eleven girls acting as one, that commitment and that desire to work together as a unit has really pulled them through the season. There is no all-star on my team, there are eleven all-stars on my team.”
Those “all-stars” started the season off 17-0, which included battling back from down 12-8 in the final of the Fort Saskatchewan tournament to win the third set 16-14 and take home a gold medal.
The team's first loss came in semi-finals to St. Paul at a tournament in St. Paul in September.
They then bounced back and won gold at a following tournament in Lac La Biche.
Their season has been highlighted by several close games including a great match at the Assumption tournament in Cold Lake.
“We had to play Carpenter High School from Meadow Lake,” said Baker. “We had lost the first set and played very poorly. We pulled out the second set 29-27 and it went to a third set and we pulled that one out 21-19. It was a rocking gym. There were probably 200 people watching that game.”
According to Baker the biggest highlight of their season happened in their final tournament of the season in the middle of November in Westlock when they mounted a huge comeback against the Barrhead Griffins.
“We were down 10-2 in the third set of one our round robin games and we came back to win 15-12,” said Baker. “The girls came out of a timeout and put up probably the best ten points of volleyball I have ever seen.”
Baker said the girls showed a great compete level and were mentally tough during the comeback victory.
“Every time I called a timeout these ladies seemed to find a way to respond and go out and compete and not focus on the score,” said Baker. “In women's volleyball you get on the right side of the momentum and who knows what can happen.”
The team competed in the zone playoffs this past weekend, with the top two teams moving on. Due to the Nouvelle's press deadline, results were unavailable.
