The Saints Senior Boys Volleyball team competed at the 4A Boys Provincial Championship on November 23-24. The event was hosted in Nipawin at L.P. Miller High School and Central Park School.
The competition consisted of ten teams with two pools of five. Pool A consisted of: Oxbow, La Loche, Nipawin, Shaunavon and Esterhazy. In pool B: Caronport, Birch Hills, Sacred Heart, Biggar and Osler.
The Saints first match was against Caronport where the team came out strong leading the first set 16-5 and finally won 25-21. Caronport picked up the pace and won the next two sets 25-21 and 25-19. The second match was against Biggar. The Saints did a great job passing the ball to win in two straight sets 25-21 and 25-23. The team played a third match on Friday against Birch Hills. In the first set, the team came up just short losing 23-25. In the second set the team gained momentum after a strong hit down the line by Derek Marshall. The team won the second set 25-19, but could not keep it going in the third set losing 15-25.
On Saturday, Sacred Heart played their final round robin match against Osler. In the first set Sacred Heart's setter/power Jaedon Pellatt injured his knee in the set and had to leave the match. The Saints were rattled and lost the first set 22-25. The team re-grouped and crushed Osler in the next two sets winning 25-6 and 25-16.
This placed the team in 3rd place in Pool B which had them face off against Shaunavon who was 2nd in Pool A. In this quarter-final match, the Saints struggled to control Shaunavon's big middle hitter and was defeated in two close sets losing 23-25 and 18-25. The team was one win away from playing for a provincial medal.
"This was Sacred Heart's second consecutive year at Provincials, and it was a great experience for the entire team," says coach Curtis Moen. "The team played extremely hard and represented their school with class. We had a strong group of grade 12 boys this year that will be missed. Colin Shewchuk did a remarkable job setting at the net and in the left power position laying down some strong hits. Justin Shumay and Brendon Walkington led the team in blocking in the middle position. Derek Marshall was by far the most well rounded player on the team this year. He was the best passer and a strong hitter at the net. Congratulations boys on a great season!"
