The Peacock Toilers came only a few points away from one of the biggest upsets in recent boys league history but ended up dropping a 3-2 decision to the unbeaten Cornerstone Christian School Falcons.
Cornerstone got off to a comfortable enough start against Peacock -- who at 4-6 won six fewer regular-season games than the Falcons -- with a 25-18 win in their first game. It was the Toilers who took control from there, though, winning the next two games 25-21 and 25-23 to put Cornerstone on the ropes. The Falcons were able to respond with a 25-14 win in the fourth game before prevailing 16-14 in a barnburner of a deciding set.
The other boys semifinal saw the defending league champion Vanier Vikings take a 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-14, 25-21) win over the Central Cyclones.
Cornerstone will now face Vanier for the boys league championship at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10.
The two teams met twice in the regular season, with Cornerstone winning in five games on Oct. 5 and four games on Oct. 26. The Vikings do have some success on their ledger against the Falcons, though, having taken the win when the two met in the semifinal of the Moose Jaw Invitational tournament.
In girls semifinal action, the Briercrest Christian Academy Cougars were also able to throw a scare into the Central Cyclones before Central emerged with a 3-2 (25-19, 25-11, 21-25, 20-25, 15-5) victory. The Cyclones came into the game as the favourites after a 6-3 regular season compared to Briercrest Christian’s 2-7 mark, but that came with a huge caveat as the Cougars had seen most of their losses come by default due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Caronport.
The unbeaten Peacock Toilers had no such difficulties in their semifinal against the Vanier Spirits, rolling to a comfortable 3-0 (25-10, 25-9, 25-12) victory.
The Toilers will look to repeat as city champions when they host the Cyclones in the league final on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.
The two teams met three times during the regular season, with Peacock winning in three sets each outing and holding Central under 20 points in all but two games.
