Sets and smashes were the order of the day at North Battleford gyms this past weekend during a pair of volleyball tournaments.
It was an all-local final at John Paul II Collegiate Saturday, as the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings defeated the host Crusaders in three sets to win the Battle West North Conference junior girls’ tournament.
“It was a pretty fun game for fans of both schools,” Vikings head coach Jeff Gibson said.
“This was the third time that we have played John Paul II this year. We beat them in our home tournament and then we beat them at a tournament in Meadow Lake, in what was a much closer match than when we first played each other. Saturday’s final was a battle right until the end and it could have gone either way.”
Both local sides have qualified for the Battle West district championship tournament, which will take place in Medstead Thursday.
“I think for both teams you have to approach the districts like it’s just another day of volleyball,” Gibson said.
“You have to go out there and execute just like you have all season long. These are young girls, and you don’t want to put any extra pressure on them as they’ll be pretty anxious to get things going once the tournament begins.”
Meanwhile, the Vikings and Crusaders senior boys volleyball teams were at North Battleford Comprehensive High School for a 10-team tournament.
After winning an event in Melfort a week earlier, the Vikings were in the hunt for another trip to the final before they lost to Wilkie in the semis and eventually finished in sixth place.
“We lost our Grade 12 setter Ahmed Ali to an ankle injury in that game, which presented a challenge, but the guys were able to finish strong despite him being out of the lineup,” Vikings head coach Paul Sarsons said.
“I felt like the boys played well all weekend. Our blocking has become a lot better, and it’s nice to see some of younger players start to settle in more as the season has gone on.”
While the Crusaders finished the tournament in 10th place, the main goal for head coach Vic Stynsky was to give his younger players some much-needed playing time.
“We have quite a lot of Grade 10 players so it was great to give them that experience, especially with the regional tournament coming up here in a couple of weeks,” Stynsky said.
“We were right there with most of the teams during the weekend, but one of the biggest takeaways for me is that we really need to work on our serving. We made a number of mistakes in that part of the game, and that proved to be costly for us.”
The 5A senior boys volleyball north region conference tournament will take place on Nov. 11 and 12 in Prince Albert, with the top three schools advancing to the provincial championships a week later in Regina.
“We’ve played four out of the six other schools that will be there,” Sarsons said. “We’ve gone up against John Paul II, Meadow Lake and Prince Albert Carleton, but we haven’t seen the two Yorkton schools yet. Prince Albert St. Mary’s probably the best team in the province, so they will be tough to beat.”
“It should be a very strong tournament,” Stynsky added. “For many of our players, this will be the first time that they have seen this caliber of volleyball, and I think getting exposed to the intensity of trying to region the provincials will be huge for them as we build for the future.”
