SRSS, Gab-Roy teams aiming for AAAA championship

Editor’s note: This story was published in the Nov. 28 edition of The Carillon.

Gabrielle-Roy is hoping to once again crash the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association (MHSAA) AAAA party.

The Ile des Chenes-based French-language school normally competes at the AA level, winning the last three provincial AA championships at the varsity level, but won the top boys junior varsity championship last season and have continued that run into the varsity ranks.

Head coach Michel Lavergne said the decision to move up to the AAAA level for varsity this season was led by the players. After a third-place finish at a University of Winnipeg-hosted tournament and a fifth-place finish at a Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute tournament it was obvious they could play at the highest level.

“Now that I’ve been doing this for 30 years I approach coaching a team not as leadership from me, but as leadership from the core of the group and we make decisions together,” Lavergne said.

“We saw that we can compete and are definitely in the mix on the top side of it. We talked and said ‘let’s do it.’ It has to come from (the players).”

It appears that move paid off, as the sixth-ranked Les Roys blasted past Miles Macdonell 3-1 (25-22, 25-14, 25-20, 25-16) in the first round of provincials before upsetting fourth-ranked Glenlawn Collegiate 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-15, 25-19) in the quarterfinals.

Now Gabrielle-Roy is back on the big stage, ready to take to the floor inside the University of Manitoba gym to try and nab a finals appearance or even another banner. They play second-ranked St Paul’s in a semi-final match Nov. 28 at 8 p.m.

“I wouldn’t consider us underdogs and I don’t think any of the guys on our team consider us underdogs,” Gabrielle Roy’s Alek Ouimet said at a MHSAA news conference Nov. 26.

“I feel like we play hard and we deserve to be playing in these kinds of tournaments. We do the work and it’s shown up right — for four years.”

Les Roys have split games with St Paul’s in their earlier tournament match-ups this season.

Lavergne said the team brings a more balanced attack than last year’s junior varsity squad, but the same tenacious team defense. Les Roys thrive on winning long points and frustrating top attacking talent from the other side.

“If you’re strong on defense, it’s very disheartening,” Lavergne said.

“(If the opposition’s) best hitter swings at it and you’re able to scrap and if you send it back over somehow or even get a decent attack out of it, it’s demoralizing. In volleyball in particular, your defense gets you points just by performing, but it can also be a spine-breaker.”

The Steinbach Regional Secondary School (SRSS) Sabres also made the provincial boys varsity quarterfinals, but were taken down by Vincent Massey (Winnipeg). The Sabres entered provincials just outside of earning a bye to the quarterfinals, as the fifth-ranked team in the province.

They managed to defeat Dakota in a re-match of their league semi-final in the first round before getting eliminated in four sets by the Trojans.

Gabrielle-Roy are the only school who didn’t earn a first-round bye to advance to this point, as the other semi-final sees fourth-ranked Vincent Massey take on the top-ranked River East Kodiaks.

The Sabres were still in the running for a provincial banner on the girls varsity side, as the fourth-ranked SRSS team took down Miles Macdonell in their quarterfinal match-up, setting up a match against Vincent Massey (Brandon). The semis took place after press time Nov. 27.

Head coach Amy Toews said at the pre-finals press conference the team’s goal was to at least make the final four this year and play inside the Investor’s Group Athletic Centre.

“I think our team’s worked pretty hard this season and we were just grateful to have that opportunity to be back playing at U of M against some of the best teams in the province,” she said.

“I think when we go in with that mindset of just being grateful for the opportunity, it allows us to play a little bit more free and hopefully play some of our best volleyball.”

The four top ranked teams, including Steinbach, easily advanced to the semi-finals, with no quarterfinal match needing a fifth and final set.

The other semi-final sees second-ranked Lord Selkirk take on third-ranked Jeanne-Sauve. Jeanne-Sauve defeated Steinbach in their league championship this season.

For more photos from the AAAA qualification matches, check out The Carillon’s second shots on our website Dec. 4.

A/AA/AAA Provincials

Top-level action inside the University of Manitoba isn’t the only volleyball going on across the province this week, as the other classification’s provincials are also occurring across Manitoba.

In the AAA ranks, three of the region’s teams are in with a chance in the boys tournament. The Springfield Sabres are placed in the “power pool” alongside Winkler’s Garden Valley Zodiaks, the Neelin Spartans and Calvin Christian Eagles. All four teams in the top pool will play in the quarterfinals of the bracket stage.

Steinbach Christian School and Niverville are also playing on the boys side in the non-power pool groups. The Niverville Panthers qualified thanks to winning the Zone 13 championship, while the SCS Flames nabbed a wildcard spot.

Zone 13 winners Lorette are the region’s only team to be competing for the girls’ varsity AAA banner, although Altona’s W.C. Miller Aces are placed in the power pool at the tournament as well.

The AAA provincial volleyball championships is being hosted at Westgate Mennonite Collegiate.

The AA championships are hosted in Zone 4, with boys teams heading to Morris and girls teams to Rosenort.

The host Morris/St. Jean (Co-Op) Mavericks are joined by Grunthal’s Green Valley Pirates and Rosenort for the boys championship. The Mavericks are the top-ranked team heading into provincials, holding down the number one spot in the provincial power rankings for most of the year.

In the girls’ tournament, the hosts Rosenort are joined by Green Valley once again, with Gabrielle-Roy also entering the tournament. Les Roys are the tournament’s top-ranked team, with Rosenort nabbing the second seed in the final power rankings before provincials began.

No teams from the region were able to qualify for the A provincial championship.

With files from Mike Sawatzky