The Yorkton U14 Blitz 1 volleyball team welcomed 26 other volleyball teams from across the province 鈥� including a fellow Blitz team, Blitz 2 鈥� to Yorkton this past weekend for the second Subway Sask. Cup of the season after finishing 19th out of 20 teams in the first Sask. Cup in Lloydminster earlier this year.
The Blitz 1 team opened the tournament up against the Regina QCVC Purple 3 and took the first set 25-17.
The second set saw the Regina club battle back to even the game at a set apiece via a 25-22 win, however Yorkton rebounded to crush Purple 3 15-3 in the final set for the win.
The win meant that Blitz 1 had an opportunity to win Pool A if they were able to defeat Subway Sask. Cup One champion Prince Albert Optimist Toppers En Fuego.
The young Blitz 1 squad 鈥� boasting just three returning players from last year - battled valiantly in the first set, narrowly falling 25-22 to one of the top teams in Saskatchewan before En Fuego proved why they were on fire, torching Yorkton in the second set 25-8.
The loss dropped the Yorkton Blitz 1 team to Tier Two where they lost their next four matches to the QCVC Royal Elite, QCVC Black Diamond, Saskatoon JCVC 14U and Saskatoon Empire VC despite playing some strong volleyball.
The four Tier Two losses meant that the Blitz 1 team finished eighth overall in the second tier, three spots higher than their previous finish in Lloydminster where they were in the consolation pool. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e improved a lot from the beginning of the season,鈥� suggested 14U Blitz head coach Stephanie Lessmeister. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy with the way that they played as a team and how they were as a team this weekend.
鈥淭he first game we played was really close鈥� this last one was a very close match. We played very well in my eyes.鈥�
The Yorkton 14U Blitz 2 (development) team also competed in the tournament. The Blitz 2 team battled hard all weekend long despite lacking in experience, losing to QCVC Black Diamond, Prince Albert Toppers Esprit, Swift Current Junior Sundogs Yellow, Weyburn VC Red and Prince Albert VC Smashing Bananas for a 27th place finish.
The next action for the 14U Blitz will be April 17-19 when they travel to Saskatoon for provincials.
