The only thing better than one is two.
That's what the Saints of Sacred Heart got at the East Central Districts junior girls' volleyball tournament this past weekend.
For the second year in a row, the Saints were perfect at this tournament.
"It was a very gratifying end to a season filled with second place finishes. The team finished second in their home tournament, second at the YRHS tournament, and second in the Melville Comprehensive School tournament, before finally coming through with a win when it counted most," stated Brian Chisholm, SHHS head coach.
The ECDAA championships were held in Melville this year. Sacred Heart was placed in a pool with teams from Invermay, Norquay and Esterhazy. The other pool was made up of teams from Yorkton Regional, Langenburg, Kamsack and Melville Comp.
The round robin portion of the tournament commenced on Friday evening. The Saints began their tournament with matches against Invermay and Norquay. Sacred Heart won both matches in two straight sets. On Saturday morning, The Saint's took on Esterhazy.
After winning the first set, Sacred Heart had a bit of a let down, losing the second set 25 - 10. The team was able to rebound and win the third set 15 -11 to complete the round robin with a perfect 3 - 0 record, good for first place in pool B.
Sacred Heart then took on the host team, Melville Comprehensive in one of two semi-final matches. After getting off to a slow start in the first set, the "Freight Train" began to roll. The Saints were able to steal momentum back from the Cobras and went on to win the semi-final in two sets. The other semi-final saw Norquay defeat Langenburg to set up the gold medal final.
As was the case in most of their matches this weekend, the final started slowly for the Saints, Chisholm explains. After trailing 11-6 to start the match, a time-out was called to settle the team down.
Sacred Heart was able to pull together after that, outscoring their opponents 19 - 5 from that point to win set one by a score of 25-16. That momentum, along with some strong serving, allowed Sacred Heart to finally get off to the quick start they were looking for in set two. Sacred Heart finished the set off with a 25-14 victory to clinch the gold medal for a second consecutive year.
Mr. Chisholm and Mrs. Malayney would like to thank everyone who helped to make the season such a huge success, especially the parents, referees, coaches and athletes. Mr. Chisholm and Mrs. Malayney are very proud to be associated with such a fine group of young ladies. The girls represented themselves and their school with class and dignity all season long.
