Call it the ‘Sask Polytech Effect’ – the crazy environment any time a game of meaning is played in the local gym can play havoc with even the most well-tuned teams.
And for the first set of the boys championship final on Wednesday night, it looked as if it might be one of those nights.
The Central Cyclones gave everything they had against the overwhelmingly favoured Vanier Vikings and came within a couple points taking an upset in the opening game. But the Vikings were unbeaten in the regular season for a reason, and once they found their rhythm they were all but unstoppable, taking a 3-0 (27-25, 25-10, 27-17) victory to claim back-to-back city titles for the first time in school history.
“This is my third year with the team and we lost the first year to Avonlea, so it felt really good to win this year,” said Vanier senior middle Sam Moyse, one of the team’s key offensive threats. “I felt like the team played really well together, it was a good [regular] season and a great way to finish it.”
The Vikings’ season was as dominant as any in recent memory. After battling to a five-set win over Avonlea in their opening game, Vanier was all but untouchable the remainder of the season, posting a 9-0 record and dropping only one set the rest of the way.
“Last year, one of our goals was to be consistent every night and we’ve carried that through to this year, where we’ve been really consistent,” said Vikings coach Levi Broda. “Even on nights where you struggle a little bit, like in our first set today, you find your way through our experience and our trusting the team that we’re going to turn it around and battle harder than we were.”
The key was the Vikings wildly varied attack, where any one of a half dozen players could act as a finisher on any given play. It was just a matter of having everything round into form as the season progressed.
“Early in the year our Grade 12s were getting used to being seniors, they’re the ones we’re depending on, and they realized that ‘I have to figure this out,’” Broda said. “They did and they stepped up, they never lost their composure, and our play later in the match was some of the best play we’ve had all year long.”
The two teams aren’t done with one another just yet – next up are the 4A regional playdowns in Lumsden on Saturday, with Vanier, Peacock and Central all in round robin action alongside the host team, with the top two squads advancing to provincials.
