Fox Valley win provincial silver; Ponteix take bronze at home
This weekend marked the end of the SHSAA fall sports season. SWAC had four boys teams at provincial volleyball championships across the province.
Annaheim was the host site for 1A Fox Valley’s provincial quest. They went through their pool undefeated with a 4-0 record. They had wins over Glaslyn (25-19, 25-14), Edam (22-25, 25-9, 15-6), Lafleche (22-25, 25-11, 15-9), and Lampman (2510, 25-20).
The Legends were first in their pool and played Choiceland in the quarter-final crossover match, winning 25-13 and 25-16.
In the semi-final, Fox Valley came up against the hometown team, Annaheim. The Legends continued their winning ways posting a victory (25-20, 25-14) that put them in the gold medal match versus a familiar opponent, Rouleau.
In the first set of the final, Fox Valley was down 17-9 at one point. They showed incredible heart and determination to fight back, but
ultimately lost 24-26. In the second set, the score went back and forth, neither team leading by more than three points. Though Fox Valley battled hard, it wasn’t meant to be and they lost 25-22. The Fox Valley Legends add a silver medal to their trophy case. Congratulations on a great season.
2A Ponteix was excited to play in the provincial
tournament at home in front of their family and friends. They finished pool play with a 2-2 record. The Predators had wins against Muenster (18-25, 25-15, 15-13) and Meath Park (25-19, 25-18) and losses against Wilke (19-25, 28-30) and Saskatoon Christian (13-25, 18-25).
Finishing third in their pool put them in the playoff rounds where they faced Birch Hills in the pool cross over match.
It was an intense match that went to a third set, the winner would move into the medal rounds and the loser goes home. Buoyed by the cheering crowd, the Ponteix boys won 15-12 in the third set to advance to the medal round.
The Predators came up against the top ranked team (Saskatoon Christian) in the semi-final. The gym was crowded with fans for both teams. Hometown Ponteix came up short in this match, losing in two straight sets. That put Ponteix into the bronze medal match against Moose Jaw Cornerstone. The Ponteix gym was filled to capacity with enthusiastic fans. The Predators were not going to be denied a medal on their home court - they won easily in two sets.
Huge thank you to Ponteix School being Provincial 2A volleyball hosts (along with school staff/student volunteers from Ponteix, Vanguard, Val Marie and Ecole Boreal). Thanks also to Millar College (Pambrun) for allowing their gym to be used and running a concession. We are so lucky to have excellent volleyball officials that are certified to officiate at the provincial level: Ken Garinger, Tom Garven, Julie Thoring, Jenn Foley, Rob Stewart, Frank Meyers. Provincial commissioners Lori Kendall and Terry Ross put together an amazing team of workers from the four schools to run the successful event.
1A Frontier was in Annaheim vying for a provincial medal, but they didn’t advance out of pool play. The Raiders lost to Rouleau (18-25, 14-25), then had very close losses to Yellow Grass (26-28, 20-25), Annaheim (15-25, 24-26), and Choiceland (22-25, 25-23, 10-15).
3A Shaunavon, playing their provincial championship in Unity, did not advance into playoff rounds after pool play was completed. Losses to Esterhazy (13-25, 11-25), Unity (13-25, 14, 25), Kipling (13-25, 25-23,7-15), and Dalmeny (11-25, 1926) eliminated them from provincial play.