Vikings survive Sabres onslaught

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/11/2024 (300 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Vincent Massey Vikings may have dug themselves out of bigger holes this season, but none more monumental than Wednesday’s comeback at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

The No. 1-seeded Brandon squad survived four match points in a tension-filled fourth set en route to a riveting 23-25, 25-20, 21-25, 30-28, 15-11 victory over the fourth-seeded Steinbach Sabres in provincial AAAA varsity girls volleyball semifinal action.

Massey capitalized on the attacking clout of all-star left side Jersey Hansen-Young, who supplied 32 kills and five service aces, and Grade 10 sensation Hannah McGregor, a six-foot left side, who chipped in with 20 kills and one ace. Zoe Price added six kills and an ace for the winners.

“It was a lot of pressure but everybody really just stayed focused and knew what they had to do,” said Hansen-Young, recently voted the top varsity girls player in the province in the FP’s top 10 coaches’ poll.

“Everybody was playing the game like it was a normal game, not like it was match point. I feel like we were even more on our toes than we had been, just anticipating what was going to happen.”

The Vikings will face the third-seeded Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens in Monday’s final at IGAC.

Game time is 6 p.m.

The Olympiens cruised to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-15) win over the No. 2 Lord Selkirk Royals.

Massey head coach Kelly DeRoo’s club has lost only once to Manitoba opposition on its way to a 49-2 record. The Vikings juggernaut is chasing the first AAAA varsity girls provincial title in school history.

“It was pretty stressful watching that from the bench,” said DeRoo of the fourth set. “But you can’t do that much about it. You just have to trust that your athletes are going to make the right decisions and work hard. I think the girls did a really good job with their mentality going through those tough times.”

Surviving a stressful situation should help the Vikings in the long run.

“We’ve been in a few for sure but we haven’t had a tough match like that in many weeks,” said DeRoo. “It’s good for us to get those games. Our (quarterfinal) game with FRC was closer than we would’ve liked but I’m very happy we pulled that off in the fourth (set).”

McGregor’s cool demeanour was instrumental in the victory. She brought Massey back into the match after a slow start.

“We tend to be a little shaky and nervous in the first set,” said McGregor. “It was mostly nerves and then we got out of it and just performed well.”

DeRoo was pleased with McGregor’s clutch play: “As a young player I think she really did rise to the occasion tonight. She played pretty smart, made good choices and hit the ball hard when she needed to.”

The Sabres, who won the 2023 title after coming into the provincial tournament as the third seed, came agonizingly close to returning to the title game.

“That’s how it goes,” said Steinbach head coach Abby Toews. “I’m incredibly proud of our girls and how they showed up for this game. They were a little nervous coming into it because their last match against Massey (in the St. Vital tournament) did not go well at all. It was a beating.

“So the fact we came out and played the way we did tonight, I think they can hold their heads up high because Massey’s a good team.”

Jubilee Steppan led the Sabres with 18 kills and an ace while Kiersten Reimer added 13 kills and four aces. Middle Callie Andries had eight kills.

In the late semifinal, second-seeded Selkirk was denied a second consecutive trip to the provincial final by an inspired Jeanne-Sauvé squad.

Left side Anna Filippin-Buller, voted the province’s No. 3 player in the coaches’ poll, led the Olympiens with nine kills.

“I think the team’s really excited,” said Filippin-Buller, who will play at the University of Winnipeg next fall. “I think we came out ready for the game and that’s really why we won.”

Jeanne-Sauvé also got six kills and two aces from Aubrey Painchaud and seven kills from Madison Steingart.

“I think we went in with a certain confidence that if we play our game we have a really good chance to win,” said Olympiens head coach Donata Huebert. “We started a little bit hesitant and then we started to play well.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca