The Briercrest Under-18 club volleyball earned a provincial championship title over the April 22-24 weekend, including Weyburn player Jeena Johner.
The 2016 Conexus 18U Women’s provincial volleyball championships was held at the Legends Centre in Warman and the Henk Ruys Centre in Saskatoon.
Johner had always plays with the Weyburn Volleyball Club. But as there weren’t enough girls to make an under-18 team this year, she was asked to join the Briercrest club team. She traveled to Caronport three to four times a week to train.
“This was a big commitment for a 17-year-old, but she assured me that after winning the gold at provincial, the hours of driving and hours of training were definitely worth it,” said Jeena’s mom, Renee.
The top eight teams ranked in Divison 1, Tier 1 were, in Pool A, 1. Regina Cougars, 2. Prince Albert Optimist Toppers, 3. Saskatoon Huskies and 4. Regina WVA.
In Pool B were 1. Briercrest, 2. Wilcox Argos, 3. Annaheim ECVC Fusion, and 4. Saskatoon JCVC Extreme.
In the first day of the tournament, Briercrest faced ECVC Fusion, JCVC Extreme and the Wilcox Argos and went undefeated in their pool play.
Then Briercrest faced Saskatoon Huskies in their crossover match, beating the Huskies 25-23, 25-22 and Johner was awarded Player of the Game.
In the final day of the tournamen, Briercrest facing Annaheim ECVC Fusion again in the quarter final, and the Wilcox Argos in the semi-final.
Briercrest came away undefeated to head to the gold medal match, where they faced the Saskatoon Huskies again who were definitley looking to come out on top this time. It was an exciting final match with the Huskies winning the first set 25-23, and Briercrest coming back to take the second set 26-24. The third set was point for point with the Briercrest team coming out ahead in the end with the win 15-12.
