Small school has big dreams

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This article was published 26/11/2024 (298 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Collège régional Gabrielle-Roy is a small school with a big volleyball dream.

They take the game so seriously there that the varsity boys program, winners of three consecutive provincial AA titles, is taking a run at the biggest prize in high school volleyball — a AAAA championship.

“I wouldn’t consider us underdogs and I don’t think any of the guys on our team consider us underdogs,” said Alek Ouimet, whose sixth-seeded Les Roys will face the No. 2 St. Paul’s Crusaders in provincial AAAA semifinal action at Investors Group Athletic Centre Thursday night. “I feel like we play hard and we deserve to be playing in these kinds of tournaments. We do the work and it’s shown up right — for four years.”

Gabrielle-Roy, with a high school population of 275 students based in Île-des-Chênes, has tested itself consistently against big schools this season, winning two major tournaments while also beating the Crusaders once and splitting another game with St. Paul’s in head-to-head play.

Les Roys setter Martin de Moissac said his teammates are well-equipped for the high intensity of the provincial final four.

“Most of my team plays club volleyball, so we’re used to big stages and big challenges,” said de Moissac, a provincial champion in Grade 9, 10 and 11 at the school. “So as a team ourselves, I don’t think it’s that big of a jump but as a school itself, yes.”

“They have tall players but honestly, it doesn’t matter when it comes to how determined you are to win and your skill and what you’re willing to put into practising and winning.”

Head coach Michel Lavergne, in his 30th season at the school, is quietly confident in his crew.

“I have the guys to do it — they tend to finish,” said Lavergne. “They have the grit to do so. And they come out when they need to, for the last few points, and are able to finish these games. So that’s why I think we’re here.

“We’re smaller (in stature) but we changed our whole offence for that. We changed the entire dynamics of how we play to suit the team.”

Lavergne’s players had until mid-season to decide on how they would finish their season.

“That was the big question,” said Ouimet, whose club is 38-3-4 overall. “For the last three years that we’ve been in AA, (Gabrielle-Roy) has won every single time for my age and the question that he asked was, ‘Do you guys want to play AA, get the fourth one, or do you want to go take some chances at AAAA?’ And every single guy on our team, without skipping a beat, said AAAA. Including all the 12th graders who are giving up the potential four-peat.”

St. Paul’s, a school with a rich tradition of winning in various sports, plans the give Gabrielle-Roy all they can handle.

The Crusaders have overcome various injuries en route to a 32-13 record and the No. 2 seed. Starter Keon Elkie has returned to the lineup after missing time with a broken hand.

“I think we have the talent and the size to have the advantage, obviously, so we just need to make sure that we’re working as hard as they work, because we know that they’re going to work really, really hard,” said Crusaders head coach Dustin Spiring, who guided his team to a provincial final appearance in 2022.

“That’s that’s kind of how we combat it is trying to game plan, work hard and hopefully our talent and our size can help out.”

In Thursday’s other varsity boys semifinal, the top-seeded River East Kodiaks take on the defending AAAA provincial champion Vincent Massey Trojans of Winnipeg. The Kodiaks are 43-0 while the fourth-seeded Trojans are 26-16.

In Wednesday’s varsity girls semifinals, the third-seeded Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens take on the No. 2 Lord Selkirk Royals, who are led by 6-3 left side Brooklyn Grobb-Prins and 5-11 middles Victoria McPherson and Danika Jakabek.

“Their front row is pretty big compared to our front row, but we tend to practise hitting around blocks, hitting over blocks and hitting off hands,” said Olympiens libero Taylor Labossiere. “And so it really helps when we can practise those things and then bring them out in the game.”

Jeanne-Sauvé’s first-year head coach Donata Huebert believes her team is well-prepared.

“I made a point of doing a lot of substitutions early in the season and almost until playoffs we had almost everyone play every game to a degree,” said Huebert. “So I think that helped our team be healthy and fresh now and have more role players.”

In Wednesday’s other semifinal, the top-seeded Vincent Massey Vikings of Brandon match up with the No. 4 Steinbach Sabres, the defending AAAA champs.

“Our goal was always to make it to the final four,” said Sabres head coach Amy Toews, who has three starters back from the 2023 squad. “I think our team’s worked pretty hard this season and we were just grateful to have that opportunity to be back playing at U of M against some of the best teams in the province.

“I think when we go in with that mindset of just being grateful for the opportunity, it allows us to play a little bit more free and hopefully play some of our best volleyball.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca