By Nigel Maxwell

Wakaw Warriors celebrate gold medal

Nov 20, 2017 | 12:09 PM

For the second time in three years, the Wakaw senior girls’ volleyball team are provincial champions.

On Saturday, Wakaw clinched the 3A provincial title in Caryle after beating Foam Lake in the final. Jaedyn Rudichuk, 16, said the feeling on the court was incredible.

“We were all so emotionally drained and to finally have it all pay off in the end, it was a really good feeling,” she said.

The team was ranked number one going into the tournament and went 3-1 after the round robin beating St. Wahlburg, Wilkie and Foam Lake. Kennedy Oleksyn, 16, plays middle and said she had a feeling early in the season her team could go the whole way.

“At the beginning of the season we had a little bit of doubt, but then towards the middle we grew as a team and we were all pretty happy,” she said. “Once we captured the gold we were all happy, and there were definitely happy tears.”

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Head Coach Luke Strueby said he was feeling confident his team could win gold. He also admitted the team had its share of ups and downs throughout the season.

“I knew if we put it all together we would be right there in the end,” he said.

The Wakaw senior girls’ team is no stranger to winning, having won numerous provincial titles. The team also captured gold in 2015 in Rosthern.

Strueby said what set this team apart from other teams was the balance.

“Pretty much our whole team was a strong attack rather than one or two dominant players,” he said.

Strueby said the players and coaches put in a lot of hours over the course of the season and he could not think of a better way for it all to end.

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell