EDAM — The Edam Royals volleyball team has captured gold at the 2A Boys’ Provincial Volleyball Championships in Gravelbourg Nov. 27 and 28.
This is the fourth consecutive year Edam has won a provincial medal, with a silver in 2012, a bronze in 2013, another silver in 2014 and finally the gold in 2015. With bronze and silver medals the goal was to “complete the rainbow” and win the desired gold they so narrowly missed last year.
Thanks to a successful season, the Royals were the number one ranked team heading into the provincial tournament, earning the reputation as “the 2A team to beat.”
Edam started the tournament with convincing 25-16, 25-16 victories over Muenster. They followed that up with 25-17 and 25-21 wins over Frontier. After beating Arcola 25-6 and 25-9 in their last match Friday, the Royals finished their day undefeated setting up an important match with Fox Valley Saturday morning.
Fox Valley entered the Saturday morning match with an undefeated record in Pool A, so the match would determine first place. Edam earned a victory with scores of 25-15, 17-25 and 25-18. That win clinched first place and set up a quarter-final match with Beauval, the fourth-place team in pool B.
Edam cruised to victory in two straight sets with scores of 25-11 and 25-14. That win secured Edam a spot in the semifinals and a chance to play for a medal.
Frontier upset Kincaid-College Mathieu in the other quarter-final, setting up a rematch with Frontier in the semifinals. Once again, Edam earned a two-set victory with scores of 25-16 and 25-18 placing them in the gold medal final for the second year in a row.
The other semifinal featured another upset, with Hepburn beating out the number two tournament seed, Medstead Mustangs, placing Hepburn in the gold medal final.
Although Edam had been looking forward to a match with Medstead, it was almost fitting Edam and Hepburn would be battling it out for gold. The two teams met in medal matches the previous two year,s with the Royals defeating Hepburn for bronze in Hepburn in 2013 and Hepburn defeating Edam in Edam for gold in 2014.
The final featured two talented teams with exceptional setters and powerful hitters. Both teams were eager to win a provincial championship and the level of volleyball was outstanding. The fans in attendance and the fans watching the live stream at home were treated to an excellent match.
The first set was close with the score tied at 11 at one point, but Edam drew on their experience and pulled away earning a 25-14 victory. Edam diversified their offence using all their hitters and Hepburn was not able to shut them down.
The second set was close with Hepburn pulling out to a 19-16 lead, but Edam was not to be denied and battled back to a 25-22 win earning their first-ever provincial title in volleyball.
Edam finished the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record losing only one set in the process.
It was the perfect ending to a storybook high school career for Grade 12 players Mason Blais, Tyson Long, Mason Detillieux, Zach Gordon, Bailey Morin, Jon Seipp and Travis Burgess. It was also a tremendous experience for Grade 10 and 11 players Dawson Malenfant, Keiran McConnell and libero Blake Blais.
It was a memorable moment when parents and fans joined in singing Sweet Caroline with the players during their victory celebration. The parents were so happy to see the team achieve their goal after the countless hours spent practicing and playing over the years.
The Royals would like to congratulate the other teams in the area that also earned provincial medals this past weekend. Goodsoil and Pierceland won winning silver and bronze in 1A provincials, Medstead for won bronze in 2A provincials and Island Lake won bronze in 3A provincials.
