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The Saints go marching on. Straight to the Saskatchewan provincials.

Next stop: Wilkie on Friday afternoon.

There is no shortage of confidence from the confines of the Sacred Heart Halo Dome, home of the SHHS Saints senior boys volleyball team

"That was our main goal," insisted Saints setter Colin Shewchuk.

"We expected to make it," added middle Dylan Johnson.

This comes after volleyball regionals which took place this past weekend in Indian Head on Nov. 19.

The Sacred Heart High School (SHHS) Saints senior volleyball team placed second.

That means they are qualified for provincials.

This past weekend's tournament came after SHHS placed second at the conference playoffs, which they hosted.

Six teams were in attendance.

In pool 'A', there was Oxbow, Melville and Indian Head. Pool 'B' consisted of Sacred Heart, Kipling and Kamsack.

The Saints team started the tournament facing off against Kamsack, beating them in two easy sets both scoring 25-11.

In the second match, the Saints played Kipling in a nail biting game which went to three sets. Sacred Heart was caught sleeping in the first set, says coach Curtis Moen. They lost the opening set by a score of 19-25.

That put them behind the eight ball going into the second set because it meant that they had to win it.

Says Moen: In the second set "the boys fought hard, knowing if they lost to Kipling, they would have to face off against Oxbow in the semi-final, which is a very strong team and could eliminate their chances at making provincials.

Sacred won the second set 25-17.

"The third set was the most exciting and nerve-racking set we have had all season. Both teams played very strong and the Saints were pumped up and fighting for every point."

The Saints were behind 21-24 and made a comeback to win 27-25.

In the semi-final match, Oxbow defeated Kipling while Sacred Heart faced Melville, going to three sets and winning 25-16, 13-25 and 25-22.

This advanced SHHS to the final game against Oxbow. Oxbow swept the first set, taking it 13-25. In the second set, the Saints led the game in points for most of the set, but exhaustion took its toll and they fell, 19-25.

Both Oxbow and Sacred Heart will now move onto the provincial competition on this weekend (Nov. 25-26) in Wilkie.

"We'll do our best," says Shewchuk.

He agreed that it would be a swell way to end the season, noting that they have come a long way.

"Yep," he said. "A pretty big bang."

"This could be a great way to finish off the season," adds Johnson.

Ten teams will be at the provincial competition.

Teams will be divided into two pools of five. Pool 'A' is Shaunavon, Rossignol, Oxbow, Moose Jaw Cornerstone and Creighton. Pool 'B' includes Sacred Heart (Yorkton), Wilkie, Nipawin, ML Jonas Samson and Caranport.

INJURIES

"I am very proud of the team as they gave it all they had to fight through some close games. Dylan Johnson fought through an ankle injury while still putting in many middle hits at the net," notes Moen.

Johnson said the ankle is still in rough shape but there's no way he's going to miss the biggest games the team has ever played in.

"No, I'll play."

"Setter Colin Shewchuk...his excellent positioning of the ball. It was our team goal to advance to provincials and we look forward to the competition," offers coach Moen.

Provincials start for SHHS on Friday afternoon when they play Meadow Lake's Jonas Samson Junior High School. They play host Wilkie at 5:15 p.m.