The YRHS Raiders senior boys' volleyball team played host to a 10-team volleyball tournament this past Friday and Saturday at the YRHS gymnasium.
Pool 'A' saw the Raiders matched up against the Estevan Elecs, North Battleford Vikings, Swift Current Colts and Crocus Plains Plainsmen while Pool 'B' contained the Sacred Heart Saints, Oxbow Knights, Weyburn Eagles, Melville Cobras and A.E. Peacock Tornadoes.
The first game of the tournament pitted the host Raiders against the Estevan Elecs in front of a raucous student body. The rambunctious Raider home crowd didn't seem to bother the Elecs however, as they gave the Raiders all they could handle in the first set.
However the home side proved to be too much in the end, edging a feisty Elecs squad 25-22 in the first set.
The second set was much the same with the Elecs never giving up. But once again the Raiders were just too much for Estevan as the Raiders took the second set 25-19.
The next match for the Raiders saw the hosts put away a plucky North Battleford side in straight sets, taking the first set 25-18 but needing some extra volleyball in order to finally finish off the northern Saskatchewan squad with a 27-25 set two victory to take a 2-0 overall record into their third matchup of the day against the Swift Current Colts.
It seemed as if three games in one day was simply too much for the Raiders. Try as they might, the Colts were simply too much as well, handing the Raiders their first loss of their home tournament in straight sets, 11-25, 16-25.
The loss meant that the Raiders took a 2-1 record into their final matchup of the round-robin against Crocus Plains, who were also 2-1 thanks to a loss to the Colts earlier in the tournament.
The first set saw the two teams trade points early and often. However the Plainsmen seemed to pick up steam midway through the set, taking a six point lead.
The two teams then went back to their you score, no I'll score approach to the game, however that only played to the Plainsmen's advantage resulting in a 25-19 Crocus Plains set one victory.
The Plainsmen carried their set one momentum over to set two, taking the lead early and never relinquishing it en route to a 25-16 set two win.
The loss gave Crocus Plains second place in Pool 'A' while the Raider loss, their second of the tournament, meant they finished third after round-robin and had to play the second place team from Pool 'B', which ended up being the Melville Cobras, in the quarterfinals.
Fatigue and inexperience on the Raiders side of things gave the Cobras an early lead in both the first and second sets and try as they might, the Raiders simply could not get back to the form they showed early in the tournament resulting in a quick straight sets loss to Melville 25-18, 25-17, eliminating the host Raiders from the tournament.
However Raider head coach Jimmy Mak felt that, although the team was eliminated early in the playoff round, they still performed better than they had earlier in the year. "We've been experimenting with some stuff. The boys are slowly getting into position and learning how to play the game," offered Mak. "It's going to take another week to prepare them to see what we're going to do and what we're capable of doing, but I think we can surprise some teams in Swift Current.
"Some of the teams are actually a little worried about us."
And while some of the teams are starting to worry just a little bit about the Raiders, Mak doesn't want to get everyone's hopes up just yet. After all, this is essentially a building season in preparation for next year. "It's a young group and they're all learning right now. We only have two grade 12s, the rest are all basically rookies," offered Mak, continuing, "We're just trying to get the boys positive and teach them some things. And they're learning, too, which is good."
Next action
The Raiders will be in action this weekend when they travel to Swift Current for the 5A Boys' Â鶹´«Ã½AV Region playoffs. Their first game will be Saturday at 9:00a.m. when they take on Weyburn.
