SRSS claim junior varsity provincial banner

The Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres will be adding another top volleyball banner to their gym’s walls, with the school boys junior varsity team winning the AAAA provincial championship Nov. 23.

The Sabres took down the Dakota Lancers in four sets (25-20, 20-25, 25-18, 29-27) to claim the banner, going a perfect 6-0 at the tournament despite being placed in the “power pool.”

That undefeated record comes as no surprise. The Sabres were perfect in South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC) league play this season, and played in the final of all five Manitoba High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) tournaments they played in, only losing out to the Jeanne-Sauve Olympians twice.

Steinbach took care of their fellow SCAC teams, with three of the four teams in the power pool coming from the conference. After knocking off Jeanne-Sauve and Dakota in pool play, the Sabres squeezed past the Olympians in five sets (25-11, 27-25, 22-25, 20-25, 15-9) before defeating Dakota in the final.

Riley Plett and Mason Bergen were named to the tournament’s all-star team, while Robert Banman nabbed most valuable player honours.

On the girls side of the tournament, the Sabres managed to defeat Kelvin in the first round of bracket play before falling to the eventual champions Sturgeon Heights in the quarterfinals.

No other team from the region was able to nab a junior varsity banner in volleyball this year, with the Ecole Gabrielle-Roy Les Roys coming up just short in the A/AA girls final, dropping the championship match to Warren 2-1 (25-18, 16-25, 15-9).

Karysa Neumann and Lola Parker were named tournament all-stars.