The Sacred Heart Saints junior volleyball teams hosted a mini tournament at the Halo Dome on Oct. 4.
On the girls' side, the Lady Saints played host to the YRHS Lady Raiders and the MCS Cobras.
On the boys' side, the visitors were the St. Henry Saints, as well as the MCS Cobras.
In boys action, Sacred Heart began their evening with a game against MCS.
After some back and forth action, Sacred Heart came away with a two-set win.
The next game saw Melville take both sets from their cross town rivals, St. Henry.
SHHS then took on St. Henry in a battle of the Saints. SHHS easily won the first set, but struggled in the second, ending up with a split, 1-1. That concluded the round robin portion of the evening on the gentlemen's side of the gym.
The semi-final game featured a re-match of the all-Melville game from earlier in the evening. The first set ended the same way the round robin match did, with an easy win for MCS over a short-handed St. Henry squad. The Saints rebounded with a gutsy effort in the second set for a hard fought win, sending the game to a third and deciding set. St. Henry came out with all the momentum, jumping out to an early 8 - 2 lead in a game to 15. An MCS timeout earned the Cobras a momentum swing, allowing them to quickly even the score at 8 - 8. The game went back and forth until it was 13-13, then MCS won the next two points and the match, earning them a date in the final against the host team.
In the championship game, SHHS came out flying, thanks to some power hitting and brilliant placement from captain Bryan Buzinski. Sacred Heart earned a decisive 25 - 12 win and a 1 set to none lead. MCS showed character, jumping out to an early 8 - 2 lead in the next set.
SHHS chipped away and fought hard, evening the score at 21, before letting the last few points slip away in a 25 -22 loss.
The third and deciding set went much like the first, with the Saints jumping out to a quick lead.
With strong leadership from Kade Johnson, the Saints didn't look back, earning a 15 - 6 victory and the championship plaque.
Next action for the junior. Boys will be on Oct. 12-13 when they host a six-team tournament at Sacred Heart.
In girls action the Lady Saints began the evening with a 2-0 win over the MCS Cobra's.
In the second match of the day the Regional Raiders also defeated the Cobras 2-0.
During the third match, the YRHS was able to take advantage of a cooled of Saints team and win the first set 25-22.
The second set saw the Saints get on a roll and defeat the Raiders also by a score of 25-22. As a result of the previous scores against MCS the Raiders finished first and the Saints second in the round robin.
The semi- final game saw the Saints coming out quickly and dispatching the Cobra's in two quick games.
This set up a rematch between SHHS and the Regional in the championship match.
The Saints came out on fire and quickly opened up a 23-6 lead.
However, the Raiders battled back with some strong serving and closed the gap but finished behind 25-14.
The second game was a back and forth set which stayed close to the midway point of the game. Strong serving by Chelsea Spilchuk and great net play by Kelsey Marshall resulted in the SHHS going on to a 25-18 victory and the championship plaque.
The next action for the Jr. Lady Saints will be Oct. 12/13 when they travel down the street to compete in the Jr. Raiders home tournament.
