Over 30 volleyball games took place over the weekend as the Sacred Heart High School senior girls volleyball tournament saw six schools make the trip to Yorkton for two days of action.
Sacred Heart, Esterhazy, Melville, the YRHS, Preeceville, Outlook, Estevan and Wadena gathered at the SHHS gym.
The volleyball players shared the weekend with the high school football playoffs and the regional soccer playdowns, all of which took place on the Sacred Heart grounds.Perry Enns, coach of the SHHS girls said it was good to finally play in their home gym for the first time this season and the skill level of all the other teams made it interesting.
"The level of competition was very evenly matched. We ended up in third," he said after his team's semi-final match with the YRHS.
"Our team has improved every weekend."
Enns said his players aren't the tallest volleyball players in the tournament, but they make up for their size with determination.
Sacred Heart's match with the YRHS was one of the more exciting matches and the Saints' work ethic and finesse showed up. Gr. 12 student and power hitter Kylie Chupa had a good tournament, said Enns, after watching her go outside the boundaries of the court to keep the ball in play for her teammates during the second game of their semi-final set with the Raiders.
"That work ethic... never give up. (That's) Kylie not giving up on the ball and trying to make a save."
Enns said he hopes the girls can keep up their strong play when they head out on the road to Weyburn this weekend.
The YRHS senior girls team are coached by Lee Poncelet, made it one round farther then the Saints but were in very tough against a highly-skilled Melville Cobras team.
Melville went on to win in two straight, but Poncelet said the best match they played came against their crosstown rivals, Sacred Heart.
YRHS finished the round robin 11-3, but Poncelet said that SHHS was interesting to play against."Sacred Heart played a fantastic game. We were passing well and the offence was there."
Poncelet added that his club is able to compete with any 5A team in the province, which is a good sign because their goal for the season will be to qualify for the provincial volleyball championships.
YRHS will have to make it past regionals first, which are scheduled this year to be held in Weyburn.
Poncelet is quite confident his team can make it as far as they want to go.
"I'm happy with the girls on the bench," he told reporters following their finals match with Melville. "I have a bunch that's ready to go. They're playing with heart."
He added that they didn't play as well in the finals against Melville as they did in the semis against Sacred Heart.
