The École St. Mary Marauders senior boys’ volleyball team were victorious this weekend in Saskatoon (École St. Mary Marauders senior boys’ volleyball/Twitter)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

High School Sports

Marauders clinch tournament crown

Sep 23, 2019 | 3:55 PM

The École St. Mary Marauders senior boys’ volleyball team have brought home a tournament championship.

This past weekend the team competed at the University of Saskatchewan tournament, where they went undefeated on their way to the championship in provincial 5A play.

Marauders Head Coach Rene Quintal said the team had to overcome the challenge of a larger gym on their way to the finals.

“I think as the weekend progressed our offence got a little bit better and we were able to be a little more accurate on our service reception,” he said.

Overall Quintal said the team played strong defence, as they had in previous tournament play, which once again helped them come out on top.

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“We had a really good ball pursuit. We were able to make it harder for teams to score points against us,” he said.

Quintal said getting a win at a tournament is good for the team as it gives the players confidence in the system. He added they are happy with the 16 players they have on the roster who have been committed to being at practice and working to improve.

Quintal said if they can continue getting better while staying healthy the team could qualify to compete in provincials.

“Anything can happen,” he said.

The city’s other high school was also at the tournament. The Carlton Crusaders finished with an overall record of 5-3 on their way to a fourth-place overall finish. Coach Curtis Bender said he was happy with the way the team performed over the weekend.

“We kind of switched things up a little bit, we tried some different lineups and different things,” he said.

The coach noticed an overall improvement over the weekend, especially in their transition play when coming off the net. He said team members improved their serving as the tournament went on.

Bender said tournaments help the team build chemistry and try new things. For the Crusaders this has meant trying out some different people at the setter position.

“It’s all a process, it’s a long process of trying to find what works,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn