Teams from across the region met in St. Paul on Nov. 12 for the SPAA Sr. volleyball finals. Games were played throughout the day at both the St. Paul Regional High School and École du Sommet.
After going 28-2 in the regular season, the Regional boys were the top-ranked team on their side of the bracket leading into the tournament.
“We’re doing pretty good,” Regional coach Alex Bernier said, a few games into the tournament. “We just came off a good tournament in Stony Plain. Our young guys are showing up, and our veterans are leading our team.”
He added that a successful regular season, along with some strategic game planning, was helping them through the finals.
“Every time we play a team we take down notes, and we try to figure out what their systems are, and what kind of hitters they like to go to,” he said. “We pay attention to that kind of thing.”
The effort paid off, as the Regional boys powered through the round robin portion of the tournament, earning them a semi-final matchup with the Mallaig Stingers. They ended up victorious in the match, while Glendon defeated Two Hills in the other semi-final, setting the stage for the championship game.
In two straight sets, the Regional boys were able to best the team from Glendon, earning them the SPAA Sr. Boys volleyball banner.
“We just played our game,” Bernier said of his team’s performance. “We really focused on our guys executing their shots. We didn’t want balls going long or into the net. We really stressed that if they just execute their shots, good things will come.”
“We played our hardest,” said team captain Cory Suvak. “We gave it our all in all the games we played. We did the absolute best we could.”
Bernier was hoping the win would help propel his team forward as they prepared for their next challenge.
“It’s a good start heading into Zones,” he said. “Our guys showed that they can play at a high level, and hopefully that kind of follows through this weekend.”
Meanwhile, over at Sommet, the girls’ side of the tournament was underway. One semi-final matchup saw the Regional girls defeat Two Hills, while the other saw Mallaig beat out Elk Point.
In the final game, the girls from Mallaig came out strong, winning the banner in two straight sets against Regional.
“They just came out and played their game, the game that we’ve been trying to work at getting better all year,” said Mallaig coach Nicole Hebert. “In the final, they came out and were hitting hard and serving tough, and that’s what I wanted them to do. They did well.”
Hebert was happy to see her team, which went 29-4 in the SPAA regular season, put it all together for the final.
“We certainly don’t have a lot of height, but we have a lot of heart,” she said. “We have good defence and great team chemistry. It’s a group of girls who really play well together and enjoy being together.”
Mallaig player Haley Ozga echoed her coach’s sentiments.
“I think we all just worked together really well,” she said. “We’ve been playing together for a few years. We just always keep moving.”
Like Bernier, Hebert was hoping that the win would give her team some confidence leading into Zones.
“Hopefully it’s going to give us the boost that we need,” she said. “We know we are in for tough competition this weekend at Zones, but if we play our best ball, we have a chance.”
