Broncos bring it on

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This article was published 15/12/2021 (1667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The J.H. Bruns Broncos girls’ volleyball team has won the 2021 Boston Pizza AAAA provincial championships.

The fourth-ranked Broncos beat the sixth-ranked St. Mary’s Academy Flames (21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-17) in the championship game at Sturgeon Heights Collegiate on Dec. 4.

Earlier in the day, the Southdale-based team beat the top-seeded Vincent Massey (Wpg) Trojans (20-25, 25-17, 18-25, 19-25) in the semifinal — much to the delight of players and coaches.

The team’s head coach, Kris Funk, said he’s proud of the girls for producing some standout performances throughout the season and during the recent championships, not least because a small roster meant not every player got to line up in her preferred position.

“I’m very proud of them, and I think the girls should be very proud,” Funk told The Lance recently. “They made some sacrifices, and not all of them got to play in the roles they wanted, but they kept the team’s goal in mind, and they didn’t complain. I don’t think some of them got all the individual recognition they deserved, and I hope this experience will make them better players and coaches. I’m hoping some of them might come back and help coach the team one day.”

Funk said it was a great experience to be back on the court this season after the restrictions of the pandemic, and the fact all the girls have played club volleyball at some point — “they all have a very high volleyball IQ” — meant practices and games were very much a collaborative effort for everyone involved.

“It was pretty cool because I could walk into a practice and talk about the weekend, and we could all talk and problem-solve together,” Funk said.

“Returning to play after the pandemic was weird for a day, and then it was just so cool — it was like we’d never been away. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed coaching, so it was really refreshing and really exciting.”

Jenna Dyck, the team’s co-captain, said the championship win is testament, in part, to the dedication of the team and the countless practice hours it spent on the court.

“It was very exciting to win, and we’ve come a long way,” said Dyck, who played left side this season. We all worked hard, and Mr. Funk put is so much time and dedication. We practiced most days in the weeks before the tournament. A highlight was how we all played together. We clicked very well and we played to win.”

Co-captain Raya Surnix, who also played left side this season, said the Broncos continued to improve throughout the recent tournament and the players gave it their all in the final.

“In the final, we all came together as a team, and we all played our best throughout the match. Of course, we’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve kept improving throughout the season. Mr. Funk did a great job helping us with practice plans, game plans, and a visual gameboard.”

Brinna Thiessen said the season was as much about having fun as it was securing the championship.

“We played to have fun, not just to win,” said Thiessen, who played libero this season. “If you’re not having fun, then winning isn’t fun. It also helps that we all get on so well. Mr. Funk helped us a lot and was super supportive —he knew when to give us that tough coaching, but also when to step back.”

Jill Paukovic, who played middle this season, said one of the highlights for the team was beating the top-seeded Vincent Massey in the semifinal.

“Beating Vincent Massey was a big highlight for most of us. We were the underdogs going in, and it was really, really nice to win that game. The girls on the team are my best friends, so to play my final year with this group is great. I couldn’t have asked for better teammates,” she said.

Mia Caronte said her head coach instilled belief in the team at the beginning of the season that it could go all the way and take the title.

“Coming into the season, Mr. Funk said we had a chance to take provincials, and we focused on that goal, which gave us hope and motivation for the whole season. It was a super positive and uplifting season, and the fact we had the flexibility to play in different positions showed we were willing to do whatever we could for the team.”

The icing on the cake was that Caronte and Dyck were also named tournament all-stars, and Surinx was named tournament MVP.

Funk hopes the championship win will be a bit of a turning point and help kick start the momentum for future Bruns volleyball teams.

While the girls’ have had good teams in the past, he said, this is their first varsity volleyball championship.  

 
Funk is in his second year coaching the girls’ team at Bruns, but has a coaching pedigree that stretches back two decades to when he was a 17-year-old Grade 12 Dakota Collegiate student helping coach the boys.

     
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