The Vanier Vikings were expecting a long night when they took to the court against the Assiniboia Rockets in the high school boys volleyball championship final.
What they didn’t expect was one of the best all-around performances from their crew this season.
And that meant that while the games were close, the battle ended up being a relatively quick one as the Vikings won their fourth-straight championship with 25-21, 25-18, 25-21 win at Sask Polytech on Tuesday evening.
The difference in the match compared to past outings between the two teams was the play of the Vikings’ left side -- Grade 12 Deo Dequina and Grade 11 Colton Ebbett were virtually unstoppable all night, giving Vanier potent additional weapons in addition to standout middle Eric Meili.
It was a noticeable improvement, and one that was good enough to change the outlook of the game relatively early.
“We still had to fight really hard, but I think for us, it was a perfect storm of some of our guys who have been up and down throughout the year peaked today,” Vikings head coach Levi Broda said. “They played just phenomenal, and I have to shout out our left-side hitters. We’re always strong in the middle, but our left sides finished some balls today and that was huge for us.”
That’s not to say Assiniboia didn’t give the Vikings a run, especially in the third set when they took an early lead and forced Vanier to scrap a little harder to finish things off in three games.
“It felt good in the third set that we were able to finish things off,” said Meili, who as a Grade 12 won his fourth title. “Especially Deo, he absolutely dominated and we could have just let them take that one and seen what happens, but we battled back and it was a big win.”
The success of Vanier’s front row was a product of season-long improvement in Meili’s eyes, especially with how things progressed right from day one in their undefeated league campaign.
“Early on the season in practice, I didn’t think we’d be undefeated, but we improved a lot throughout the season,” he said. “I think that says a lot about our coaches, everyone on the team bought in and that’s why we went undefeated and won cities.”
With four-straight league championships under their belt, there’s little question the Vikings are in the midst of a dynasty, one they hope just keeps rolling along.
“It’s really special,” Broda said. “Every year, it’s just about the guys on the team, but it’s really cool when you look back and accomplish something and can say ‘hey, I added to that legacy that we’re starting to carve out’. It’s always a different cast, and it’s always nice to see guys who didn’t have as big of a role last year step up in important roles this year.”
Vanier will now have two weeks to prepare for regionals and provincials, with the boys regional playdowns taking place during the Nov. 19 weekend.
“We’re just hoping we can keep improving because we’re still not at the top where we can be,” Meili said. “Hopefully we can get there next weekend for regionals and keep it going for provincials.”
