Hawks soar high into provincials

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This article was published 23/11/2018 (2728 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Mennonite Brethren girls varsity volleyball team is flying high into the AAAA provincial tournament.

After going undefeated in league play to capture the KPAC Tier 1 championship, the Hawks were the top ranked team in the province ahead of their quarterfinal match on Nov. 24.

“We expected to be there,” said head coach Brian Plett. “When I had our first meeting with the girls of the season, our goal was to be playing the first Monday in December. I don’t think anyone would have been happier (with less).”

Plett, who has been a boys or girls varsity volleyball coach at Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute for 37 years, said the team has gotten to where it is by working hard and grinding out points.

“We’re not star studded — though I don’t want to take anything away from anyone — but we grind out points,” he said. “The longer a rally lasts, the better chance we’ll win the point, because we’re in the point through our defence and ball control.”

Starting setter Alli Pauls agreed.

“We have gotten this far from our defence and our passing,” said the Grade 12 student, who plays club volleyball with the Cobras. “I think we’re one of the top in the province with our defence.”

“Volleyball is about doing just a few things really well and doing them over and over again: serving, passing, defence,” Plett said. “If you serve tough, if you pass well and play good defence, you’re always going to be in every match. And we do those things really well.”

Mia Hildebrandt, a Grade 12 starting middle who has just joined a brand new, as-yet-unnamed club team this season, added that the trust the Hawks have in each other and the bond the team shares is what puts them above and beyond the competition.

“You can hit as hard as you can and the team behind you will pick it up,” she said. “The trust that even if you do mess up, your team has got your back and they’re there for you.”

Plett agreed that trust is key to the Hawks going the distance.

“You need to have the trust of your teammates,” he said. “You need the freedom to swing, knowing your teammates have your back and you’ll move on to the next play, the next ball. We’re in it as a team.”

Thanks to their top four ranking, the Hawks enjoy a bye past the first round of provincial play. As a result, they play their first game of the tourney on Nov. 24, taking on the winner of eighth-ranked Vincent Massey (Winnipeg) and ninth-seeded St. Mary’s Academy.

Regardless of who they face in their quest for provincial glory, the Hawks were confident of their chances.

“If we have our serving and passing down, we’ll run the show,” Pauls said.

“If we do the basics well and our offense will take care of the rest,” Hildebrandt said.

“We’ve played these teams enough to know what these schools tendencies are,” added Plett. “The nature of the sport is you can control a lot of what you do on your side of the net. We concentrate on serving tough and to certain locations, then we work a lot on serve and receive. If we pass well, it doesn’t matter who we play. We’re prepared.”

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca or call him at 204-697-7112

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