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Hawks fly to provincials

École Plamondon’s girls volleyball team did not get a podium finish in provincials last weekend, after finishing fifth in their pool, but they can at least say they have ended an almost three-decade provincial drought.
école Plamondon Hawk Shayla Ludington spikes the ball during the team’s first provincial game against Vauxhall on Nov. 24.
école Plamondon Hawk Shayla Ludington spikes the ball during the team’s first provincial game against Vauxhall on Nov. 24.

École Plamondon’s girls volleyball team did not get a podium finish in provincials last weekend, after finishing fifth in their pool, but they can at least say they have ended an almost three-decade provincial drought.

In fact, it has been 28 years since École Plamondon’s girls volleyball program has made it to the provincial tournament, and after years of bronze medal finishes in 2A North East Zones, their appearance was long overdue.

The Hawks earned a wild card spot on Nov. 19, after playing the 2016 provincial host Vegreville Composite School in the zone finals. Because Vegreville hosted provincials and guaranteed a spot, their second place at zones was also promised a spot at the provincial tournament. As such, even though the Hawks walked away from the very close game with some silver medals, they landed a ticket to provincials.

“It’s been a really long time, so it was big for us,” said Scott Reid, head coach of the Hawks, “We’ve been really close for a lot of years but we finally cracked through.”

Reid said the team started the provincial tournament little slow during their first showdown on Nov. 29. The Hawks fell to the Vauxhall 25-23 and 25-23 in what he said was a really big game to win, with three of the top ranked schools in their round robin group.

“We knew that we were going to play to of the top teams later on,” he said. “We were in a really tough pool.”

The second game did not fair any better for the Hawks after falling to Sprit River Regional Academy 25-10 and 25-12. However, the Hawks were able to rebound against Onaway High School winning 25-10 and 25-16.

The roll did not stop there, as the Hawks were able to best Rimbey High School in their third and final set 15-13. Reid said his team played their best games of the season to upset the strong team.

“We really started playing aggressive,” he said. “We got back to really just putting pressure on the other team and trying to get them out of their system. To beat that Rimbey team was a really good accomplishment for us. They’re a top four team and they’re actually in the finals this year.”

The fifth-place pool finish now leaves the Hawks some room to grow. Reid said he maxed out his team’s roster with 15 players, and only three will not be returning for next year.

“Obviously, it’s our goal to go back,” he said “We’re in one of the toughest zones in the province … but we’re competitive. We’ve been right there. We’ve been in the bronze-medal game for seven years in a row in zones.”

Reid added that he’s very thankful for the last minute sponsorships throughout Plamondon and the surrounding area to fund their provincial run.

“We did a lot of heavy fundraising in three days to get us to provincials he said. “So just a thank you to everyone in the community that helped support us.”

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