Provincial volleyball playdowns continue for SWAC teams

The Fox Valley Legends will attend 1A Provincials in Beechy this weekend. SUBMITTED PHOTO

It was an awesome weekend of SHSAA provincial volleyball in Gull Lake and Swift Current. By all accounts, both tournaments were very successful. The attention to detail by our commissioners, Adele Kirwan/Eric Crosbie (2A girls) and Adam Jackson (5A boys) was evident. The hospitality of staff/students/parents from SCCHS, Gull Lake School and Fairview School was greatly appreciated by the teams in attendance.

Shout out to our officials – SWAC can’t thank you enough for giving up your free time on countless weekends (or getting time off of work) to make it possible to host events like this.

SENIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE

The Senior boys league playoff has been postponed twice due to horrible weather. It is now scheduled for Wednesday, November 23. Matches will start at 4:30. Frontier will host SCCHS Gr 9/10, Eastend, and Hazlet. The top four teams after league play have advanced to the finals.

SHSAA PROVINCIALS

SCCHS Colts are golden once again! In pool play, they defeated Prince Albert Carlton, Estevan, Saskatoon Holy Cross, and Regina Martin, never dropping a set. Their quarter final match was very intense, with the Colts digging deep for the win over Regina Campbell (24-26, 25-22, 15-8). That moved them into the semi-finals versus Prince Albert Carlton. The Colts played very well and advanced to the final with a 25-17, 25-13 win. 

The final was played against Regina Martin. It was truly an outstanding match, played by two strong teams in front of a boisterous hometown crowd. The Colts won the first set 25-16 and Martin won the second set 25-20. It all came down to the final set to 15 points.  It was a nail biter, but the Colts prevailed 17-15. What a moment it was when the students from the stands streamed onto the court to celebrate after the winning point.  Definitely a memory for many years to come. Congratulations to the repeat gold medalists SCCHS Colts and their coaches Darren Lehmann and Shawn Hiebert.

SWAC had three girls teams at provincial championships on the weekend. All three teams were eliminated after pool play, but that record does not reflect how close some sets were and how competitive the teams were.

1A girls Vanguard attended Provincials in Rose Valley. They finished round robin play with a 0-4 record. Vanguard had losses to Bellevue (12-25, 25-20, 3-15), Lampman (10-25, 17-25), Leoville (20-23, 22-25), and Rose Valley (13-25, 23-25).

2A Gull Lake girls hosted the provincial championship. After pool play, they did not record any match wins. Gull Lake lost to Davidson (18-25, 16-25), St. Walburg (17-25, 11-25), Arcola (10-25, 22-25), and Wakaw (18-25, 12-25).

3A girls Maple Creek were in Macklin for their championship. The girls had losses to Carnduff (24-26, 13-25), Briercrest Christian Academy (13-25, 29-31), Lanigan (18-25, 15-25), and Macklin (23-25, 17-25).

5A SCCHS Ardens qualified for the 5A girls provincial championship. Usually, the championship would have been held this past weekend, but due to the Grey Cup in Regina (region of host site Balgonie) the event has been moved to November 25-26 weekend.

SHSAA BOYS REGIONALS

Both Fox Valley and Frontier had advanced to the 1A regional tournament in Eyebrow.  Fox Valley won their pool with wins over Frontier and Eyebrow. The Legends beat Beechy in the semi-final (25-19, 25-18) and went on to claim the Regional title over Kincaid in a thrilling final (25-18, 22-25, 18-16). Frontier advanced to the semi-final with a win over Eyebrow (25-13, 25-10). They lost to Kincaid in the semi-final (23-25, 15-25), but four teams will advance out of this regional. Both SWAC teams will be playing in the provincial championship in Beechy next weekend.

2A Ponteix was in Eston for Regionals. In pool play, the Predators defeated LCBI (28-26, 25-18) and lost a heartbreaker to Regina Laval (23-25, 23-25). Their semi-final was against Eston and they were narrowly defeated 22-25, 21-25. Ponteix was eliminated from the tournament.

One of the 3A boy regional tournaments was in Outlook. Shaunavon lost to Outlook (21-25, 12-25) and Unity (12-25, 20-25). Their lone win came against Rosetown (25-5, 25-8).  The Shadows did not advance to the playoffs.

Winter sports are just around the corner (basketball, wrestling, curling). Just a reminder to all our coaches, who are not teachers, there are online course requirements to take (cost reimbursed), plus a criminal record check. 

Contact your school or SWACSports (306-295-7751) for more details.

The Chinook School Division Sports Report is submitted by Val Gordon