With 16 teams from throughout the province taking part, it stood to reason they’d do exactly that.
And yet, there the two teams were staring at one another across the net during the first game of the playoff round.
And unlike the previous meetings between the two teams, it was the Toilers who came out on top, taking a 25-21, 25-22 victory in their quarter-final bout.
“I think Vanier and us are pretty even,” said Peacock coach Krysta Caplette. “They’ve beaten us twice and now we’ve taken one off of them, so hopefully that gives the girls a bit of confidence.
“And we’re working on things like when to chip at the right time and when to hit at the right time against teams like that, so that was a huge win for us.”
The Toilers went undefeated through both the preliminary and re-pool draws, including a 25-15, 25-12 win over Oxbow, 25-15, 27-25 defeat against Regina Riffel and a 25-9, 25-21 defeat of Warman in the second round robin. They fell to Kipling in the semifinal.
“We played really well and were able to beat Oxbow for the first time, so we were happy about that,” Caplette said. “Besides that last game when they were way too tired after the long weekend, we were trying different line-ups, trying to see what works for us and who jives well together. The girls are trying really hard to bring the energy and intensity to try and make every line-up work, so it’s coming along.”
The Spirits, meanwhile, lost 25-16, 25-11 to eventual champion Lumsden in their re-pool draw before rebounding with a 25-17, 25-10 win over Regina Johnson and 25-19, 25-12 victory against Yorkton.
While the Central Cyclones weren’t able to win a match over the weekend, they came as close as could be, especially in the second round robin where they fell 25-23, 19-25, 15-13 to Wakaw, 14-25, 25-13, 15-13 to Gravelbourg and even took Saskatoon’s Bishop Mahoney to three games in their final contest.
Lumsden defeated Kipling in the gold medal game.
