Kodiaks too hot to handle

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This article was published 28/11/2024 (317 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The River East Kodiaks were just too much to handle Thursday night. Too many offensive options, too sound defensively and it proved to be a deadly combination.

The top-seeded Kodiaks repelled a tenacious effort from the No. 4 Vincent Massey Trojans to hammer out a 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-21) victory in provincial AAAA varsity boys volleyball semifinal action at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

The result marked a reversal of fortune from 2023 when the Trojans eliminated the Kodiaks in the semifinals en route to a landmark 49-0 season and the first varsity boys volleyball crown in school history.

But it was River East’s turn to shine Thursday.

The Kodiaks’ balanced attack, directed by star setter Matthew Brown, got 13 kills from Eli Ulrich, 11 from Tanner Nachtigall, nine from Connor Freeman, six from Nikolas Horton and three from Theo Wiebe.

“I think our defence led tonight,” said River East head coach Zack Diboll. “There were a lot of scramble plays that we were able to just bump the ball over and then defensively we got the next block. Those were emotional points that were really key for us. And then when you pair that with strong offensive attack options, it makes it hard for a lot of teams.”

River East can capture its first provincial AAAA varsity boys volleyball crown in 42 years by beating the No. 2 St. Paul’s Crusaders in Monday’s final. Game time at IGAC is 8 p.m.

The Crusaders advanced to the final with a 3-1 (18-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-21) win over the No. 6 Collège régional Gabrielle-Roy Les Roys in the late semifinal.

“I definitely don’t think we had our A-game,” said River East’s Eli Ulrich, whose twin brother Gavin is the squad’s all-star libero. “It was probably our B or C. They had a very good match. Defensively, they were picking up everything and that’s what happens when you’re in survival mode. We expected that but we could have reacted to it better.”

Magnus Carlos led the Massey offence with nine kills, while Kian Anderson and Nathan Adam added eight and seven kills, respectively.

“I thought we had a good plan put together and we executed lots of stuff but that last little run in the fourth set, that’s kind of been the tale of our season,” said Trojans head coach Marshall Jones. “We’ve had some runs against us at the end of sets sometimes and that kind of bit us in the end.”

The battle-tested Kodiaks played well enough to win Thursday.

“That’s a super good group on that side,” said Jones. “Obviously, they benefited from their experience last year in the final four and they’re pretty polished. They don’t make a ton of mistakes. We knew that the ball was going to get defended like crazy on the other side and we saw that tonight.

“The (Ulrich) twins are great — they play such good defence. Their whole team plays really good defence. You did see that frustrate us there at the end.”

The left-handed Brown said his team had more to give.

“When we get the ball and run the system, we take care of business,” said Brown, voted the province’s No. 1 player in the Free Press’ Top 10 coaches’ poll. “Our main key is to use all our options and then I think we’re good.”

Brown added four kills courtesy of his deceptive “turn-and-burn” move at the net — spiking the ball instead of setting a teammate.

“I wish I had been a lefty setter because that just looks so cool to do,” said Diboll, a U Sports setter in his playing days. “For us righty setters, it’s not the same and he does it really well. It’s nice having him as an attacker because it pulls a little bit of the pressure off the other guys and opens up the floor.”

Crusaders 3 Les Roys 1

Gabrielle-Roy, an Île-des-Chênes school with 275 high school students, gave the Crusaders all they could handle but couldn’t complete the upset.

David Lemoine paced Les Roys with 11 kills while teammate Logan Barnabe added nine.

“We did (have them on the run) but you’ve gotta do that for the entire three sets that you want to win,” said Les Roys head coach Michel Lavergne. “Defensively, I thought we were not that sound and typically you need four guys rolling and we had three. So it just wasn’t enough.”

Keon Elkie led the winners with nine kills and a service ace. Funmi Sofoluwe added eight kills.

“Keon Elkie came in — he’s coming back from a hand injury — and he was ready to play,” said St. Paul’s head coach Dustin Spiring. “We had him in a little different rotation in the first set and then put him in the second (set) for Liam Mancer and he took over. It really turned the tide for us.”

Spiring said his team will need a better start to have a chance on Monday.

“We’re playing a really good team,” he said. “We’ve just got to come more prepared. We weren’t necessarily ready to go from the jump (tonight) and I don’t think we can give (River East) the first set and hope to come back.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca