By Jeff D'Andrea

Marauders senior boys win third straight provincial volleyball title

Nov 19, 2011 | 8:41 PM

Before Saturday, Evan Halyk and five of his teammates on the St. Mary Marauders senior boys volleyball team had already won two provincial championships.

But as the Grade 12 leftside player said after the Marauders won their third consecutive provincial title on Prince Albert soil Saturday, this one for him is by far the sweetest.

“To win as Grade 12’s, nothing’s compared,” said Halyk, who will graduate this year along with Kole Pazuik (setter), Nigel Weir (libero), Nigel Leach (middle) and Reece Hoegi (right side). “It feels great to win three in a row. It just feels amazing and to win it in your hometown in front of your home fans, it’s always great.”

The Marauders went undefeated through seven matches in this year’s 5A Senior Boys Volleyball Provincials hosted at Carlton and SIAST. The championship finish is not only their third in a row, but their fifth in the last seven years.

Despite their dominance in recent years and throughout the weekend, Marauders coach Dale Regel was very humble in victory.

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“We got some breaks, we got lucky and we ended up on top,” said Regel. “There very well could have been several other teams (winning). …This weekend, there (was) parity between the teams here.

Estevan didn’t even make the playoffs on our side, but we had to beat them 31-29 in the third game.”

The Marauders capped off the tournament with a 25-18, 25-20 win over the North Battleford Composite Vikings, a familiar foe who they played against all year, including beating in the regionals last week.

In the final match, Marauders coach Dale Regel said defence, especially their blocking, was a big factor like it has been all year long. Joel Parchomchuk had a key block in the second set a crucial time, putting the Marauders up 21-17.

“I always say we build our team on defence and when people are willing to hit the floor and sacrifice, it’s infectious,” said Regel.

Blocking was also crucial in their semifinals win over Regina Campbell, the top ranked team entering the tournament. Leach made some very key blocks late in the third set, allowing the Marauders to hold on to win 23-25, 25-14, 25-17.

“I think we got some huge stuff blocks on them, we shut down some of their hitters and they got frustrated and started making some errors,” said Regel. “The blocking, it’s been our key all year and that came through for us.”

Although they are a tough team to hit against with a very tall and athletic front court, Halyk said their offence really started to develop and get deeper as the season went along.

“It really started developing over the last two weeks, we started to get more of our offence going and more of the other guys,” said Halyk. “Basically at the end, we had five guys that could get kills for us which is huge so we didn’t have double-blocks on me and Riley (Houle, middle) all the time. We got single blocks and that really helped.”

Although the Marauders will be graduating five important parts to their team in Halyk, Kole Pazuik (setter), Nigel Weir (libero), Nigel Leach (middle) and Reece Hoegi (right side), Regel is still confident in what will be available for next year.

Houle, who was an absolute force in the middle all tournament long both offensively and defensively, will return, along with Halyk’s younger brother Aaron, who is a great power hitter in his own right. Joel Parchomchuk (middle, right side) and Andrew Heleta will also return, giving the Marauders another talented and tall core to work with.

Hosting Carlton Crusaders gain some experience

The young and hosting Carlton Crusaders team lost to Saskatoon Mahoney in their final round robin game, 25-16, 25-15. They finished 0-4 in the round robin but gained excellent experienced facing the province’s best.

Marauders senior girls in provincials in Moose Jaw

After finishing Friday 0-3, the St. Mary Marauders snuck into the playoffs with a 25-21, 25-18 win over Meadow Lake, who also came into the game winless.

The win put them into the quarterfinals against the eventual silver medalists Regina Campbell. The Marauders won the first set 25-19 but were eliminated from the tournament when the Tartans won the last two, 25-13, 25-13.

Some of Marauders showed up to see the senior win gold.

jdandrea@panow.com