Defeating the Cornerstone Christian School Falcons in a three-game sweep.
Cornerstone came into the contest with a perfect 10-0 regular-season record and had a couple of league victories over Vanier to their credit. But there the Vikings were, in complete control with 25-19 and 25-22 wins in the first two games.
But then the Falcons, well, they did what they’ve done all season, roaring out to 6-0 and 10-2 leads in the third set and eventually powering through to a 25-14 win.
Turning point, right?
Not so fast.
Vanier exploded out of the gate in the fourth game, going on a 7-0 run to start the set and building an 11-2 lead before closing out the match with a 25-14 victory of their own.
The city championship was the third straight for the Vikings and marked a season of steady improvement for the two-time defending 4A boys provincial champions.
“It’s everything,” Vikings senior Dalton Cowan said when asked how important the win was to his team. “Since they went undefeated, to come out and win this last game is pretty cool.”
Vanier head coach Levi Broda explained what the thought process was when a team as lethal as Cornerstone started their comeback.
“We had a time out in that third set when things were getting away from us, and we always talk about just finishing the set and it’s going to carry over into the next one,” Broda said. “I challenged them, the guys who had been on the bench the whole time, and it was ‘just get your serve in and see what that can do for us’ and they did, then we finished the rest of the set okay. But that carried over into the fourth set and we were able to get back in business.”
The players themselves knew what was at stake, and just how crucial it was to close out the contest then and there.
“We kind of just wanted to bounce back and make a comeback in the fourth set… it was really important to get that energy and get right back and take control,” Cowan said.
“It’s all about the mental side. It kind of just comes, honestly, there have been so many times where we’ve come back when other teams have had big leads and stuff like that.”
The win was especially heartening for the Vikings in that it came out of a season that saw steady and relentless improvement from start to finish,
“You take the whole year to put the right pieces in the right spots, and for us it took a little bit longer, especially against a team like that,” Broda said. “The boys passed really well and ran their offence, and I thought both sides were a little bit afraid to make mistakes and didn’t play as aggressively as we would have liked, but the fourth set we weren’t afraid to make mistakes and that figured into things.”
Broda also made a point of acknowledging the Falcons and their successful season -- and just how solid things look for them going forward.
“I think it’s important for all of our teams to have these tight matches,” Broda said. “Cornerstone is going to be a threat in the 2A category, they’re not done yet. And a game like this, I’m happy we came out on top, but that’s just going to make them hungrier for their run down the road and I’m excited to follow them the rest of the year.
“For our guys, to get some experience in another tight match is always valuable. I think everyone wearing our jersey knows we’re going to have to play way better down the road, but that’s okay. This is a process and they stepped up when they needed too.”
Cornerstone is back in action for their conference playdowns this weekend at Cornerstone, while Vanier will prepare for 4A boys regionals during the Nov. 19 weekend.
