The St. Mary boys volleyball team hoists the 5A Provincial trophy after defeating Swift Current 2-1 in the gold medal match. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Clean sweep

St. Mary wins boys and girls 5A volleyball provincials in P.A.

Nov 19, 2023 | 1:45 PM

The St. Mary Marauders swept the 5A volleyball provincial championships this weekend, winning both the boys and the girls titles.

The St. Mary squad matched up against Swift Current for the gold medal, with the girls winning in straight sets, 2-0 (25-20, 25-15) while the boys got it done in a thrilling 2-1 (25-19, 22-25, 16-14) fashion.

The girls dominated the weekend, going 7-0 throughout the tournament without even losing a set. The team’s head coach Shaun Hunko said it was great to see the girls win the championship after their second place finish last year and their early exit from the tournament in 2021.

“One of the big things we focused on this year was to build off those experiences [from] last year and the year before that – use those experiences, learn from them, and apply them to this year,” he said. “We were able to do that and I think having that experience this year helped so much.”

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The team had seven seniors who are set to graduate in June including Maya Bowden, who was at a loss for words after winning and said the win is a sweet way to end her time donning the Blue and Silver.

“It’s really special. Last year we almost won and this year we really wanted it. This is something that I’ll remember forever,” she said.

Her teammate and fellow senior, Lisette Mourot, was feeling a set of mixed emotions after her final game in a Marauder uniform.

“There is so much going on,” she said. “You’re so happy that you won, but it’s so sad because it’s all over. I’ve been on this team [for] three years and this is it – this is the end which is just crazy. After going through so much all these years, it’s scary that that’s it.”

(Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

For the boys, St. Mary continued their domination as they also finished the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. However unlike the girls, the boys did surrender a set in the gold medal game which led to the winner-take-all final set. The game came down to the very last point, which saw a Swift Current player miss-hit the ball giving the championship to St. Mary.

Head coach Rene Quintal said the team overcame a lot of adversity down the final stretch of the season en route to the top of the mountain.

“We’ve been dealing with injuries these last two weeks,” he said. “We’ve actually had a brand new lineup on the floor we haven’t used all year due to injuries that were unexpected. We were very resilient and we found a way to win in some situations we haven’t found ourselves in this year. It was the most even, most parity at a provincial championship I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching high school volleyball since 2002.”

The boys didn’t have as many graduating players as the girls with only three players set to cross the stage at the end of the school year. Carson McGregor is among those seniors on the team and said it was special to win it all after the adversity they faced.

“To win it at home makes it feel even better. The crowd supporting us, being behind our backs the whole time was awesome. We played through to the end – we let off but we didn’t give up the whole time and we kept pushing through. It feels so good to finally come out with a win and to win the last game of the season and to finally get the gold medal and trophy, it feels amazing.”

(Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

Rounding out the provincial podium for the boys was Winston Knoll from Regina who defeated Carlton 2-1 (23-25, 25-16, 15-8) to claim bronze, while for the girls, LeBoldus from Regina took third place following their 2-1 (24-26, 25-23, 15-10) win over Regina Campbell. Meanwhile, the Carlton girls team ended their tournament last in their Pool, resulting in a ninth-place finish overall.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com