The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs senior boys volleyball team is bound for provincial competition in Swift Current this weekend.
The Elecs earned the berth at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) 5A Boys Provincial Volleyball Tournament through a second-place finish at the Regional Tournament, which was held at Estevan Comprehensive School on Saturday. The boys will compete as one of the top-ten 5A teams in the province at provincials, including the top-ranked Swift Current Colts who claimed first place at regionals with a 25-19, 25-20 win over the Elecs in the championship game.
Earlier in the day the Elecs beat the Colts 17-25, 25-21 and 25-15 in an intense back-and-forth round-robin match to claim first place in their pool. Estevan actually claimed the provincial berth with their next match, a 25-23, 25-21 win over the Moose Jaw Peacock Toilers in the regional semifinal.
“Definitely (our goal) was to go to provincials,” said Elecs libero Jarrett Daoust. “That was our main goal and even though we got second place we’re going to provincials and that’s something to be proud of for sure.”
Daoust said the loss to the Colts in the regional final came down to a different mindset for the team compared to their earlier win against Swift Current because they had already booked their provincial ticket by that time. In the final the Colts frequently blocked the Elecs spikes and used a successful tipping attack to score points.
“It’s just whatever works,” said Colts power Dylan Mortenson. “We’ve got some tall guys that can block over the net and see where the holes are, so if it keeps open we put it there. It was working for us, so we kept doing it.”
Nathan Johnson, head coach of the Elecs, echoed Daoust that the final was a lesser stakes game for the team and his players knew it, which led to the end result. He said the Colts are also the number-one ranked team in the province and their victory over Swift Current in the round-robin shows they can compete with the top teams.
“We’re a young team,” said Johnson. “We’re a majority of Grade 11 kids. That’s a big step for our kids. Last weekend in Yorkton we made the final. That’s a huge thing for our kids in a big tournament like that and again this weekend we played awesome. I was so proud of the boys. They played hard. They played to the end of sets. We had a few lulls here and there, but we’ve been very streaky as a team being a young group. This weekend we were able to sustain high levels of play for longer. That’s nice for us as we grow as a group.”
Johnson said a few weeks ago somebody told him the Elecs are a good young team and maybe they can medal next year. He said the reply was their goal is to medal this year.
“Swift Current is a team that thinks they’re going to medal at provincials and we beat them,” he said. “That’s got to be our goal. The heavy favourite is Prince Albert Saint Mary’s and after that I think it’s pretty wide open. We’ve got ourselves to the spot where we can play with those top teams. I’d love to come home with a medal.”
