For the first time in half a decade, there will be a new champion in the Moose Jaw High Schools Athletic Association senior boys volleyball league.
With the Assiniboia Rockets taking a four-set victory over the Vanier Vikings in the boys semifinal on Tuesday, Nov, 7 in Assiniboia, Vanier’s four-year run as city champions has come to an end.
Now the question is who will take their place after the Central Cyclones rolled to a sweep over the Cornerstone Christian School Falcons in the other semifinal.
The Rockets lived up to their first-place regular season showing with a 15-25, 25-23, 25-20, 29-19 victory in their win over Vanier, who had finished first in Tier II with a 4-3 record. Assiniboia topped the standings with a 6-1 mark.
At Central, all three games were relatively close even with the sweep, as the Cyclones took a 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 victory. Central had also posted a 6-1 record but finished second in the regular season by points differential, while Cornerstone came into the game with a 3-4 mark.
The two teams will now meet in the city final on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Sask Polytech, and how that contest will turn out is anyone’s guess.
The two teams split the regular-season series, and in epic fashion at that -- the two teams first faced off back on Sept. 19, with Assiniboia taking a 25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 22-25, 16-14 victory, One month later, it was Central’s turn to emerge victorious from a five-set war, 16-25, 25-19, 25-21, 21-25, 15-5.
The Rockets will have one slight advantage -- the atmosphere of the city final will be nothing new after playing for the title last fall against Vanier.
On the girls side of things, the Peacock Toilers will look to extend their burgeoning dynasty to four-straight city championships, but they’ll have a tough task ahead of them.
The Vanier Spirits will head into the title game with a perfect 6-0 record in the regular season, and they left nothing to chance with a 3-1 victory over Cornerstone in their semifinal.
Peacock had a similar result in their semifinal against Central, taking a 25-20, 25-17, 15-25, 26-24 to book their city final spot.
As their record would indicate, Vanier won both regular-season meetings against Peacock, prevailing 25-21, 25-21, 17-25, 25-14 in their first battle on opening night before taking a 25-20, 26-24, 25-20 win in the rematch on Oct. 24.
The girls city final will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. at Sask Polytech.
