Campbell Tartans win second provincial girls’ volleyball title
The week began with an ordinary school day for members of the Campbell Tartans’ senior girls’ volleyball team — with one notable exception.
Their latest accomplishment was celebrated during the Monday morning announcements.
On Saturday in Martensville, Campbell defeated the Balgonie Greenall Griffins 25-15, 27-25 to win the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s 5A girls’ championship.
It was the second provincial title in a span of three seasons for the Tartans — and for one of their captains, Erin Epema.
“It has been pretty cool,” Epema, a Grade 12 student and a third-year member of the senior girls’ team, said Monday.
“We’ve built up a dynasty at Campbell with senior girls volleyball over the past few years. It’s an amazing program and a great experience to be a part of it.”
The Tartans defeated the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders in the 2013 championship match before losing a heartbreaker to Balgonie with a gold medal at stake in 2014.
Last year, Campbell took the first set 25-15 and subsequently led 19-15 before Balgonie scored eight consecutive points en route to winning the second set, 25-22. In the third and deciding set, Campbell had 11-5 and 16-13 leads, but Balgonie came back to win, 25-22.
The Tartans drew upon that experience Saturday when Balgonie once again enjoyed a strong second set. Campbell trailed 22-17 before rebounding and eventually sweeping the Griffins.
“The same sort of thing started to happen in the second set, but this year, it was, ‘No, that’s not going to happen again,’” said Epema, who shares the Tartans’ captaincy with Grade 11 student Jessica Lerminiaux.
“Most of us were there last year and we had the experience,” Lerminiaux added. “We knew we couldn’t let up at all. We kept pushing it and it worked out in the end.”
Players from both sides did not require any introduction. Epema, a member of the Cougar Volleyball Club, noted that the CVC includes several members of the Griffins.
In addition, the CVC is coached by Barry Leibel (who doubles as the Tartans’ head coach) and Dwight Fuhro (who calls the shots for Greenall).
“It’s a friendly rivalry between us and Balgonie,” Epema said. “It’s a really friendly, respectful rivalry and we always have good games. I don’t think I get as excited to play any other team as I do when we play Balgonie.”
The excitement peaked Saturday when Campbell won the provincial crown.
“We were ecstatic,” Lerminiaux said. “We didn’t really expect to win in two sets, but we left everything on the court and came back and won.
“It was an exciting moment, for sure.”