Boys 2A provincial volleyball was an exciting time for many in the community, with extremely talented athletes working hard to win the prestigious honour.
Teams from Mossbank, Goodsoil, Hepburn, Montmartre, Paradise Hill, Central Butte, Langham, Kahkewistahaw, Edam, and Arcola were all in attendance. As the host town, Arcola, held the championship matches, while games were played at both Arcola School and G.F. Kells in Carlyle.
On Friday, Nov. 23 the opening ceremonies were held at Prairie Place in Arcola. Many from the community, fans from the schools that reached provincials as well as the entire Arcola School population were present for the official opening ceremonies.
Once hostesses from the Arcola School led each school to their seats, Juliana Schlenker sang O Canada. Present to say a few words was the Arcola mayor, Harry Laurent, and Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) representative, Jody Kerr. Captains of the Arcola team, Brett Lees and Quinn Brown, recited the player's oath.
A slideshow presentation was put together by Mike Brown, which included photos submitted by each team.
Coach of the Arcola Panthers, Eugene Brown, performed an opening coin toss between Duane Hislop and Zach Brown who then performed the opening serve, pass, set, and spike on-stage.
Following the ceremony the teams split into their two pools, half travelling to G.F. Kells and the other half headed to Arcola School to begin playing.
The competition soon became a heated battle as the teams would fight for each point. The skills and ability to advance in the tournament were had by all of the teams. Many matches would go to three sets, a fight to the bitter end. The tournament marked the final tournament of the season and for a number of players, their high school career.
Through hard fought battles and tough competitors it was Hepburn, Central Butte, Edam, Montmartre, Paradise Hill, Goodsoil, Mossbank, and Kahkewistahaw that were able to make playoffs. This would lead to Mossbank playing Central Butte in the bronze medal match and Paradise Hill facing Edam in the gold medal final.
Mossbank would go on to take a victory over Central Butte two sets to zero. The action was exciting and the battle was quite evenly matched as they fought for each point.
The final between Edam and Paradise Hill would see Paradise Hill come out on top. They took gold as Edam took silver, being crowned the top two 2A boys provincial teams in the province. This match too was a close competition. The first set would go to Paradise Hill with a win of 25 to 23.
The second set would again look to each point to be fought hard for. Edam gained a small lead, but Paradise Hill dug deep and brought out a win of 25 to 22.
It was a very exciting tournament overall and Arcola was happy to host it, thankful G.F. Kells also participated by offering their facilities for a second court. The event was a great success, though the Arcola Panthers might not have made it into the playoffs they did fight hard and a large crowd supported their valiant efforts in their games.
