The Junior SPAA volleyball finals were hosted in St. Paul on Nov. 18, and by the time all the dust had settled, Racette Jr. High had two new banners to hang from the rafters of their gym.
The boys from Racette were able to go undefeated on the day, earning them a spot in the centre-court final. The other semi-final match was an exciting affair between Mallaig and Glen Avon, two teams vying for the chance to take on Racette in the big match. The semi-final went to three sets, with Mallaig narrowly edging out the host Panthers.
Racette was able to take the final in straight sets, earning them the title of Junior Boys SPAA champions.
“All season these guys worked really, really hard,” said Racette coach Tanya Hebert. “They have great defence, and they have the biggest hearts. They don’t want the ball to hit the floor; they are probably the most competitive group that I’ve had.”
Not only did the team go undefeated on the day, but they also claimed each victory in two straight sets. The win marked the end of a successful season for the Racette boys, who won gold at three local tournaments, and silver at an elite tournament in Sherwood Park, where they lost in the final to a 4A school.
“It was a fantastic season,” said the coach. “I’m very proud of them. I’m very proud of their improvement, and their level of play.”
Meanwhile, the Racette girls were successfully working their way through their own home tournament, going undefeated on the day and finally meeting up with Ashmont in the final. The host team won the championship match handedly, earning them the Junior Girls SPAA banner.
“Today we played as a team,” said coach Rod Hebert. “It was some of the best ball I’ve seen the girls play all year. I was really happy with them.”
The SPAA finals are as far as any team can go at that level of play. Hebert was happy to see his team’s season culminate with such a big win.
“Throughout the year we’ve gotten better and better and better,” he said. “Defensively the girls played fantastic today – communication was huge, serving was dynamite, and transition was amazing. They were getting the free balls to the setters, who were getting the balls to our hitters, and the hitters were putting the balls away.”
Like their male counterparts, the Racette girls won each game in straight sets at the SPAA tournament, giving the school an unblemished record on the day.
“That being said, there were still a lot of strong teams here,” the coach said. “We were lucky that we were firing on all guns today.”
Throughout the year, the Racette girls made the finals in every tournament they participated in, and managed to bring home three gold medals prior to the SPAA finals.
Tanielle Yacey, one of the team’s leaders, was happy to see everything come together at the SPAA finals.
“We were able to talk a lot, and we worked well together,” she said. “It was a really good way to end the season. We did really well this season, and this just topped it all off.”
“Our offence was really strong today, we hit really well and had lots of good communication,” added Mackenzie Trottier, another leader on the team.
Coach Hebert echoed his players’ sentiments that it was in fact good teamwork that led to their success.
“They just played as a team, and that’s volleyball. One person can’t win a match in volleyball,” he said.
