The St. Mary Marauders Sr. Boys volleyball team fell short at provincials, but coach Rene Quintal said the experience will help build a solid base for next year.
The Marauder season ended with a straight sets loss to Holy Cross, the eventual gold medal winners, in the provincial quarter-finals on Nov. 15. Quintal said the team had a strong first day at provincials, but were unable to replicate that success on the second.
“We played really, really well on Friday night, winning two matches. One of the teams we beat, Estevan, went on to win the bronze medal, and Saturday, we just didn’t come out with the confidence we needed to compete at the 5A level,” Quintal said.
“We just kind of lacked the confidence to come out and play a really good defensive game to have a chance to win.”
The Marauders played Holy Cross close in the quarterfinals, losing both sets by a score of 25-23. Quintal said the squad needed a bit more urgency to reach the medal round.
“We needed to vocal and we needed to communicate with a purpose,” he said. “We needed just to pursue every ball and play every match like it’s 14-14 and the third set and we just never got to that as our mindset on Saturday.”
St. Mary went 2-2 in pool play, earning straight set wins over LeBoldus (25-19, 25-22) and Estevan (25-16, 25-19), while losing to Aden Bowman (25-18, 25-18) and Walter Murray (25-22, 25-18). They finished in a three-way tie with Estevan and Walter Murray after all three clubs finished with a 2-2 record, but the tie-breaker rules put St. Mary second overall behind Aden Bowman.
That put them in the quarterfinals with Holy Cross, who also finished pool play with a 2-2 record.
Despite the loss, Quintal said there are plenty of positives. The Marauders were “by far the youngest team at the tournament,” he said, and will lose only four Grade 12s next season.
Quintal said those four Grade 12s were a vital part of the team, but based on their performance in provincials, he’s confident the rest of the squad can step up next year and fill those holes.
“I am very optimistic that in the future we can compete at a high level for the next two to three years, just based on the students we have in Grade 9, 10, and 11,” he said.
Holy Cross would go on to defeat Aden Bowman 2-0 (25-16, 27-25) in the gold medal game. Estevan earned the bronze medal with a 2-0 (25-18, 25-20) win over Miller from Regina.
