The Eagles senior girls and boys competed in the provincial tournament for the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association on Nov. 18 to 19. The Eagles girls team were in Moose Jaw for their provincials.
The Eagles senior girls and boys competed in the provincial tournament for the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association on Nov. 18 to 19.
The Eagles girls team were in Moose Jaw for their provincials. During their initial pool on the first day, the girls had very close matches, and were defeated 26-24 and 25-23 by the eventual silver medallists Regina Campbell. They split the first two matches against North Battleford Comp, with Battleford winning 25-18, Weyburn winning 25-18 and Battleford taking the game 25-23. There was another close match to Saskatoon St. Joseph, with Weyburn winning 25-18, and then losing 25-22 and 25-22 in the next two matches.
On Saturday the girls defeated Moose Jaw Central 25-18 and 25-14 to qualify for the playoffs. In the quarter finals they lost to the bronze medalist Saskatoon Mariam Graham 25-18 and 25-16. Head coach Blake Johnson said, "with four Grade 10 starters in the line-up it was a satisfying year for the young team, led by the two Grade 12 starters Starlet Peterson as well as April Hoffman and an offence run by setter Emma Guest."
The top hitter was Starlet Peterson with 68 kills. Top blockers were Ashlee Sandiford 14 stuffs and six rejections, April Hoffman 11 stuffs and four rejections and Laura Stearns with eight stuffs and seven rejections. Top servers were Ashley Sandiford with 100 per cent, April Hoffman at 98 per cent and Gracyn Kravanya at 96 per cent.
The Eagles boys team were in Prince Albert for their provincials. They started off against the first place Saskatoon team, St. Joseph's. They gained a seven-point lead at one point, but even with the lead, couldn't win the match. "We had a very cold start and the boys were hesitant," said head coach Cory Olson.
The next match however, the boys came out firing on all cylinders and played Regina Balfour, winning in two games 25-17 and 25-20. In their third game, the boys concluded with a match against the first-ranked team Prince Albert St. Mary's. "The boys were excited to play against P.A as they had not had the opportunity all year," said Olson. "We played point for point with P.A until the middle of the both sets, but St. Mary's strong, error-free play was too much for us and they took control of the match and beat us in two."
"It wasn't a loss that got to us, P.A was by far the number one ranked team," added Olson.
During action on Saturday, the boys team were faced against Estevan, whom they lost to in the Southern playoffs. The boys lost the first set 22-25 but came back to beat them 25-17 in the second, and 25-20 in the third. "Our win over Estevan knocked them out of the playoffs," said Olson.
"Our pool play put us in third place, which put us up against the second place finisher in the other pool, Regina Campbell," said Olson. "We had one good match with them earlier in the year, and another where they beat us quite handily."
"Coming up against Campbell in the crossover match was bad luck. Campbell, who was ranked second going into provincials, should have in my opinion, finished first in their pool," added Olson. "Nevertheless, the boys rose to the challenge and put up a good fight, but Campbell's middle attack was tough to stop, and we lost in two. Campbell went on to lose against P.A St. Mary's, who ended up winning the gold medal."
Olson called the season a success, "especially going into provincials ranked ninth or 10th and finishing in fifth place. We have four senior players leaving us, Josh Forsgren, Braylan Haupstein, Aaron Verbeem, and Matt Pokletar. All showed great levels of commitment during their years with the Eagles and who I most certainly enjoyed coaching. We have seven returning players next year."
