The Central Valley Volleyball Club (CVVC) staked their claim to the provincial title with a hard fought 25-23, 25-18 win over a very good Prince Albert Volleyball Club (PAVC) in the championship game played at Henk Ruys Soccer Centre in Saskatoon on Sunday, May 8.
The journey to the championship had been a long one.
“Our season was one of growth, for the players and the coaches,” said CVVC Head Coach Mike Burnett. “Over half the players were new to the team this year, and for the coaches, it was our first year coaching a boys club volleyball team. Our goal was to build towards provincials, and we were able to improve our finishes in each tournament along the way, finishing Sask Cup 1 in sixth place, improving to third place in Sask Cup 2 and reaching the ultimate goal of first place by season’s end at Provincials.”
A key for the team’s success was their determination and ability to respond when getting behind. The team came into the weekend as the number three seed, but started off slow in Pool A play with opening loss 14-25, 17-25 to RVC Green.
The Sting then defeated BVC 25-22, 27-25 and JCVC Red 27-17, 25-22 to finish second in their pool.
In the crossover game they played RVC White, losing the first set 23-25 before winning 25-18, 15-8 to advance to the semi-finals.
In the semi-final game against JCVC 16U Red, saw the Sting again losing the first set 21-25, winning the second 25-13, and pulling off a come from behind 15-13 win in set three to move onto the gold medal final.
Those experiences of having to come from behind paid dividends in the championship game.
The win was not easy as PAVC got off to a strong start and had a good lead which the Sting slowly chipped away at, finishing strong in taking the first set 25-23.
In set two PAVC again took an early lead but the Central Valley squad built confidence throughout and came away with the 25-18 championship win.
Coach Bennett, post-game, said, “We really work hard to come back and not quitting. That was our calling card for the season; to not get down and to battle back.”
The win capped off an incredible year for the entire CVVC. This was the real first year of competition as the Central Valley Volleyball Club coming out of the pandemic.
The club draws athletes from the entire valley area, mainly from Warman, Martensville and Saskatoon, but also have athletes from Osler, Hague, Rosthern, Waldheim, Hepburn, Dalmeny, Langham, Delisle, Borden, Dundurn and Leask.
Interest in competitive volleyball continues to grow as the club exploded to 15 teams, with 174 athletes as well as over 40 dedicated coaches and assistants.
The result was a very successful season in competitions as well.
For the first year ever, our region had teams in the tier one divisions, six in total with three of them making provincials finals, winning two silvers (reported in the April 28 Clark’s Crossing Gazette) and this gold.
The opportunities do not end with provincials as Central Valley will have four teams competing in the 2022 Youth Nationals to be held in Edmonton on the May long weekend.