Last Tuesday was a day filled with high school volleyball action, with victory ultimately belonging to the St. Paul Regional High School Saints.
The boys’ team defeated the Mallaig Stingers at Ecole du Sommet to successfully defend the SPAA Senior High Volleyball Championship the team earned last year. Then, the Lady Saints also downed the Stingers to earn their second SPAA championship banner in three seasons.
A total of 16 teams from across the region took part in the day’s competition. Each team was designated a ranking from one to eight, which was based on how each team performed in the standings during the SPAA regular season. The team with the best record earned the number one seed while the school team that finished last in the standings was ranked eighth.
Both the Regional teams were contenders for the league title coming into this tourney. The boys finished third in the SPAA standings with a 25-5 record and the girls finished second with a 33-3 record.
The Mallaig Stingers were also a very good bet to make it to the championship game, coming into the competition with the top SPAA records at the conclusion of the regular season. The boys finished 27-3 and the girls finished 34-2.
These four teams rolled through the pool action of this tournament with ease. The Saints and Stingers’ boys and girls teams each finished with a 3-0 record in their round robin matches and earned the number one spot in their respective pools.
The Regional boys made short work of the F.G. Miller Senior High Crusaders in the semi-finals by winning in two sets. Their opponent, the Stingers, took care of Two Hills in the semi-final in straight sets.
The Regional girls handled Two Hills in two sets to earn a berth in the tournament finale. The Stingers senior girls had a more difficult time in their semi-final. The F.G. Miller Crusaders pushed them to a tie breaking third set.
Boys’ final
The Saints and the Stingers battle final was a spirited match, crackling with intensity, with the Saints prevailing in two sets, 26 -24 and 25-21.
“We came in with the mindset of the match just wanting to go to three with these guys and see what happens,” said Alex Bernier, coach for the Saints, noting that the Saints boys worked “really, really hard” and had a “fortunate result.”
In the first set, the Saints led the way, but the Stingers staged a late comeback, and took the lead to 24. But, the team was unable to seal the win, clearing the way for the Saints to come back and win the set.
“We started slow and we tried to pick up again too late,” said Stingers coach Brad Tillapaugh of the game, adding, “We got to come out at 0-0, we got to come out at full power.”
In the second set, the Saints cruised to an early lead and maintained it, and despite a scoring run from the Stingers, took the set 25 – 21.
Coaches for both teams noted that it was a battle they were both prepared for.
“Regional played a heck of a game. They played excellent, they blocked really well. They just came out on top and that’s the way it goes,” said Tillapaugh, adding that for zones, the Stingers would be focusing on coming together more and keeping a positive attitude through the whole game.
Brandon Fedoruk, a Grade 10 Regional High School athlete who played setter for the first time this year, put in a solid effort in the position.
He noted the team got off to a rough start at SPAA this year.
“At the beginning of the day, our first match wasn’t great,” he said of its first match with Ashmont. But after that, the team picked up its efforts.
“Today, we came out firing on all cylinders so it helps when you have six guys playing,” he said, aiming the goal was to continue the solid play at this past weekend’s zone tournament.
Girls’ final
Just like it was the case in the boys final, the battle between Regional and Malliag’s senior girls was vigorous and back-and-forth competition. The Saints earned the victory in two sets, 25-18 and 25-20.
St. Paul Regional player Courtney Hebert credits her team’s character for being a reason they managed to earn the banner.
“We definitely worked our way up to this point and played our strongest game in the final,” she said. “It is a great to say that your team continued to get stronger through the whole tournament. I am really proud of my teammates.”
The early stage of the first set was a seesaw affair. Regional scored four of the first five points, but then Mallaig responded with a run of their own and took a 16-11 lead.
The Saints coaching staff then decided to call a timeout.
“We weren’t playing that great, so we called a timeout to settle (the girls) down and talk to them about we needed to do to have a better execution of our attack,” said Saints coach Hank Smid. “Fortunately, one of our girls was able to get on a run with the serve and we took control of the set and got some momentum heading into the second set.”
Emilee Smid’s strong serving helped her team earn an impressive 13 points in a row to take the Saints from the 16-11 deficit to a 24-16 lead. The Stingers managed to earn two more points in the set before falling.
The lead was continually traded between the two teams early in the second set. After the score was tied 14-14 at one point, the Saints managed to go on a run in the second-half and secure the win.
Smid credits his team’s “strong service game and finesse game” as being key contributors to his team’s win.
Hebert told the Journal that winning SPAA several days before heading to zones will give the team some confidence, but it would be important for the team to play with determination every game to have an opportunity to win.
