Junior Varsity Sabres fall in AAAA finals, varsity team headed to University of Manitoba for semis
Advertisement
The Manitoba High School Athletic Association provincial volleyball schedule continues to roll on.
The junior varsity provincials are finished, with the Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres boys team falling in heartbreaking fashion to the JH Bruns Broncos during the finals, hosted at Tec-Voc high school Nov. 24.
The Sabres took a 2-1 set lead, but lost the fourth, setting up an absolute battle in the fifth and final. After falling behind early, Steinbach fought back to tie the set 12-12, before a three-point run from the Broncos clinched the banner.
To reach the final, the Sabres defeated Gabrielle-Roy in an all-Eastman match-up. Les Roys boys teams continue to play above their usual AA designation, and compete at the AAAA level despite the school’s small size.
Steinbach’s Luke Paton and Vaughn Penner and Gabrielle-Roy’s Jude Beaudry were named to the championship all-star team.
Emily Heidebrecht was named a provincial all-star after Steinbach’s girls junior varsity team lost in the semi-finals to the eventual champions Oak Park.
The girls team from the Ile des Chenes-based Gabrielle-Roy still competes at the AA level, and the school’s junior varsity team won provincials, going undefeated over the weekend en route to a banner victory in Birtle, beating Killarney in convincing fashion (25-12, 25-9) the finals. Les Roys didn’t drop a set at provincials, and only gave up more than 20 points in a single frame against Birtle in the quarterfinals.
The Springfield Sabres won the AAA junior varsity banner, defeating Steinbach Christian in the finals, which were hosted in Neepawa this year.
The A-AAA varsity provincial championships take place this weekend across the province, as the Winnipeg Free Press announced the results from their annual coaches player poll.
St Paul’s Liam Mancer just edged ahead of second place Logan Barnabe of Gabrielle-Roy in the boys rankings. Erik Neufeld and Mason Bergen from SRSS were named the ninth and 10th best players in the province in the poll, with Colin Vermette of Gab-Roy recognized as an honourable mention to the list.
In the girls rankings, Steinbach Regional’s Jubilee Steppan was voted as the fourth best player in the province.
Both Gabrielle-Roy and SRSS advanced to the AAAA provincial semi-finals thanks to victories at the regional finals in Brandon over the weekend.
The Sabres, who were ranked as the second-best team in the province, losing out on the number one seed after dropping their league semi-final to Glenlawn, took care of hosts Vincent Massey (Brandon) in five sets (21-25, 25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 15-8) to advance to the final four.
In good news for the Sabres, the Glenlawn Lions, who delivered the only two league defeats to Steinbach this season, were taken out by Miles Macdonnell in the first round.
Les Roys, who were placed as the fourth and final team to earn a direct spot in the provincial quarterfinals took out the Winnipeg-based Vincent Massey team in four sets to advance.
Gabrielle-Roy will face St Paul’s in the first provincial semi-final, with Steinbach Regional taking on fellow South Central team Dakota later on. The semi-finals will take place at the University of Manitoba’s Investor’s Group Athletic Centre Nov. 27, with first serve scheduled for 6 p.m.
The final will take place Dec. 1 at 8 p.m., after the girls championship. Steinbach Regional’s girls team couldn’t match their counterparts in Brandon. After losing out on an automatic quarterfinals berth by a single seed, they were upset by 12th-rated Garden City in the first round.