Two local teams were at the 3A provincials in Rostern for senior girls volleyball. The Wakaw Warriors and Naicam Vikings both went off the provincials Nov. 20 and 21.
The Vikings were in pool B, while the Warriors were in pool A and they did not face off in the round robin play.
The Warriors placed second in their pool after round robin play and the Vikings ended up finishing third in their pool. This placing meant the Vikings and Warriors would come head to head in the quarter-final.
The warriors took the first set 25-18, but the Vikings fought back in the second set. However, the Warriors were still able to take the second set 25-23 to move on.
The Warriors then took on Waldheim, who was the number one team in the tournament. The Warrior caused an upset this game winning in two very close sets against Waldheim.
Next the Warriors took on Wynyard, a team they lost to in the round robin. The Warriors took the first set 25-21, lost the second 25-17 and were able to win the third and the provincial title.
Bryan Lundsten, head coach of the Warriors, said it was a very good weekend for them. They’re not strangers to provincials, medalling nine of the last 12 years and winning seven of those.
“We’ve finished second the last two years so it was nice to pull out a win this year,” said Lundsten.
Lundsten said this weekend was also really good because they were close to home and had great support.
“It’s just really nice when basically every kid had at least one parent, most had two parents there and between staff and community members and other family we definitely had the most fans of anybody there. So it feels like the girls were very well supported,” he said.
Dwight Wrubleski, head of coach of the Vikings, said it was a good weekend, but he wished they had done better, especially in the Wakaw game.
“Wakaw ended up winning so that puts a little more sting into it I guess because you know that you were right there because we had them in the second set. We probably should have had the second set we were up 23-21 in a set to 25 so we probably should have won,” he said.
Wrubleski also said he also was very happy with how the girls played and that they never quit, even when they were down.
“They played really well, they probably deserved a better fate, we probably should have had one more game, we probably should of played for a medal in the end but we just came up a little short but they played really well and I’m really proud of them,” said Wrubleski.
