Millar Edge fight off SunDogs to win Provincials
The Millar College of the Bible Edge men’s volleyball team won a five-set marathon over the rival Great Plains College SunDogs to win their fourth Prairie Athletic Conference College Championship in the past 10 years.
The Edge finished with a 19-2 record against PAC opponents after winning all three matches at Provincials, hosted by Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Osler.
The SunDogs won the opening set 25-18 before Millar answered back with 25-18 and 25-20 wins to lead the best-of-five match 2-1. Great Plains forced a fifth set with a 25-23 win but Millar clinched another PAC title with a 15-8 win.
Coach Kevin Peters said his team fought through some nerves early on.
“Any time you get to a final your chest tightens up, you just don’t want to make mistakes, so you end up taking something off of what you would normally do, with your hitting especially, or your serving, and make errors that you usually wouldn’t when you are loose. We definitely had to fight through that the first game. Great Plains was playing loose and kind of playing a little bit of the underdog role and you can just kind of have nothing to lose. They played a really great game and took the first one off of us.”
Millar was ranked first in the league and had a bye through the first round of Provincials.
The Edge opened the double knockout tournament with a win over the Prairie Pilots (25-15, 2520). They won their next match over the SunDogs (25-17, 25-17) to book a trip to championship match.
He said his team has found ways to win all season.
“We could be down in a game at the end but we would always at the end pull it out. You have to be a good team to be able to find ways to win even when you are down. That is what I appreciated about this team.
“The nice thing about this team this year that I have is that they have been pretty even keeled. Even though they lost the first one they didn’t let it get to them and you didn’t see guys angry or anything like that.