Huskies battle back to claim crown

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This article was published 05/12/2022 (1355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you wanted pressurized, tension-filled varsity girls volleyball with a provincial title at stake, the Sturgeon Heights Huskies and Vincent Massey Trojans were up to the task Monday night.

When they were done, after seven lead changes during a frantic fifth set, the fourth-ranked Huskies had eked out a thrilling 22-25, 12-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-10 victory over the No. 2 Trojans at the Boston Pizza AAAA Provincial High School Volleyball Championships.

Tournament MVP Brooke Duncalfe, a 6-2 outside, overcame knee and thigh injuries that kept her out of practice for most of the last few weeks to dish out a game-high 23 kills as the Huskies crawled back from a two-set deficit before approximately 2,200 spectators at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

“Even though we were down, we still knew there was hope,” said Duncalfe after the 135-minute marathon.

In a varsity boys final that rivalled the tension of the earlier game, the third-ranked Steinbach Sabres upended the No. 1 St. Paul’s Crusaders 25-23, 25-20, 24-26, 23-25, 16-14 to win the program’s first AAAA crown since 2014.

Duncalfe’s clutch play under trying circumstances in the varsity girls final had the respect of Sturgeon head coach Ryan Vermette.

“She battled through it,” said Vermette of Duncalfe, who will play at the University of Winnipeg next fall. “She hasn’t really practised for a while but she found a way to just kind of fight through that.”

Kiara Ashley added seven more kills for the winners, who got a steady passing and serving game from setter Chelsea Stewner.

Stewner was asked if she thought a comeback was possible after dropping the first two sets.

“Yes and no,” said Stewner. “You kind of have in the back of your head — it’s all about executing — and when you’re down it’s kind of hard to get back up with such a good team. But we really battled back.”

Added Vermette: “Just the way the match played out, often young players will kind of give up on the game plan when things aren’t going your way. But these girls, you’ve got to give them credit. They stuck to the game plan the whole way through. It was a great job.”

It was the first AAAA title in program history for Sturgeon Heights. The school was formed when Sturgeon Creek and Silver Heights amalgamated in 2007. Silver Heights earned its lone varsity girls AAAA provincial title in 1989.

The loss was difficult to accept for the Trojans, who lost to the eventual champions form J.H. Bruns in last year’s AAAA provincial semifinals.

“You know this group of girls has been together for a couple of years and we lost a heartbreaker last year, too, and we came in tonight with some confidence but knowing that we had to earn it,” said Trojans head coach Mandy Wolfe. “Sturgeon’s a great team and we just fell short.”

Kaiya Krahn had 11 kills for Massey while teammate Danika Nell added five.

“We came up strong the first two sets and we were very in control and Sturgeon kind of gained some momentum in the third and the fourth (sets),” said Massey setter Teagan Penner. “My team kept fighting. We just couldn’t finish those long rallies and I think that’s where we lost a lot of momentum.”

In the varsity boys final, the Sabres were spurred on by a roaring throng of supporters who made the trip to the University of Manitoba campus. Playing from the front, the Steinbach players seemed to gain energy as the game went on but the Crusaders proved to be a very stubborn opponent.

The final set was was mired in controversy when Steinbach served an ace that was deemed to have hit the back line to give the Sabres a 15-14 lead.

St. Paul’s head coach Dustin Spiring disputed the call and kicked the ball in frustration. He was ejected from the game before Steinbach cashed in with the winning point on the next serve.

“It was obviously a close call but there was a lot of them today, right?” said Steinbach head coach Joe Thiessen.

Tournament MVP Hudson Reimer of Sabres had eight kills. Teammate Nik Reimer led Steinbach with 11 kills.

“That’s a lot of grit. I’m real proud of the guys,” added Thiessen. “I’m very proud of these guys and there’s a lot of fire there and boy, we just never quit.”

Connor Rewniak had 17 kills for the Crusaders while teammate Jack Taylor chipped in with 14.

AWARDS TIME: The varsity girls tournament all-star team included Sturgeon’s Brooke Duncalfe (MVP), Bronwyn Holroyde and Chelsea Stewner, Danika Nell, Kaiya Krahn of Vincent Massey (Winnipeg), Selkirk’s Megan Carpenter and Ella Werbiski of Vincent Massey (Brandon)… Varsity boys all-stars also included Selkirk’s Jaxon Van Kooten, Steinbach’s Boston Thiessen and Nik Reimer and St. Paul’s Flynn Miller and Jack Taylor and Owen Weekes of Vincent Massey (Winnipeg).

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14