Volleyball season has came to an end at Sacred Heart High School as the Sr. Lady Saints fell short at 4A provincials. The Sacred Heart Sr. Girls Volleyball team took part in the SHSAA 4A Girls Provincials this weekend in Regina. The Saints went up against the top ten 4A teams in the province with a team that had a balance of five grade twelves and key young players who would be returning next season giving them a solid team in their category.
The Lady Saints began play Friday afternoon against Nipawin winning a very tough match in straight sets, 25 - 20 and 25 - 21. Morgan Shymanski was named player of the game for the Saints. the Saints then dropped two games to very good squads in Assiniboia and Macklin. Assiniboia took a commanding lead and won 13 - 25 in the first set before SHHS battled back winning 25 - 17 to force a third set. The Lady Saints struggled to get their offense going and lost 7 - 25 in the final set, losing their first match of round robin play. The final match on Friday night saw the Saints drop two straight to Macklin 15 - 25 and 19 - 25 to put their backs against the wall heading into crucial Saturday morning matchups to qualify for the knockout stage of the championship.
Saturday morning the Lady Saints faced Regina Christian school and answered the bell winning two straight 25 - 14 and 25 - 22 to secure a spot in the knockout stage.
With the win SHHS finished with a 2 and 2 record and finished third in their pool. In the quarter final the Lady Saints faced the second place team from the other pool Oxbow. "The first set between these two teams was one of the best of the entire weekend with huge hits, amazing digs and rallies that just wouldn't end," according to coach Perry Enns. Oxbow eventually took a very close first match 22 - 25. The second set was another great match with Oxbow winning 15 - 25 to knock the Saints out of the tournament with a very admirable performance in their first trip to the 4A Championships. Oxbow eventually won Provincial gold, giving the Saints loss some perspective as they battled hard against the best team in the province in a game that could have went the Saints way had they scratched out the first set.
Coach Enns was happy with his girls performance in their final weekend saying, "Our first trip to Provincials was a great experience for the entire team especially the younger players who can use this experience for next year. Enns also wanted to thank his Grade 12 players for their dedication and congratulate his team for their effort all season saying, "The entire team played so well this weekend, especially senior players Kaitlin Inglis, Shayla Merriam, Lauren Leshchyshyn and Rebbeca Maroquin."
