Vanier improved to 3-0 on the season in comfortable fashion with a pair of wins this week, taking a 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-17) victory over Riverview/Mortlach on Tuesday before following with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-22) win over the Central Cyclones Thursday at Vanier.
The win over Central was familiar to anyone who followed the Vikings’ run to the provincial title last season – their never-say-die attitude on every point saw a handful of sure Central kills end up coming back over the net, even in the unlikeliest of situations.
That’s all by design, according to Vikings coach Levi Broda.
“We have a very scrappy team, not the biggest team, but they’re scrappy and won’t let balls end,” he said. “It’s contagious, when one guy makes a play everyone else is ready to hit the floor for it.”
While last season’s Vanier crew had their share of size and players who could jump out of the gym, it’s a bit of a different look this time around. Speed and mobility – hence the ability to dig almost anything that comes over the net – will be key for the team going forward. That includes their younger players, many of whom have stepped right onto the senior team while looking just as effective as they did during their junior championship-winning days.
“We rolled a little bit more with the older guys today, but when we did put the younger guys in we didn’t even skip a beat,” Broda said. “We were able to keep the momentum rolling tonight. Were we perfect? No, our passing and transition is something I’d like us to work on, but in terms of stepping up in a big game and having energy and communicating the whole night, I was very happy with the boys.”
So just how does this season’s club compare to last year’s world beaters?
“We’re close,” Broda said matter-of-factly. “We’re close to where we were last year at this point. The boys are moving well as a unit, but they’re very good at practice and knowing that we need to work. They can’t just show up in games and so far in practice, they’re working their tails off. That’s good to see. In the past we might get into a third set where it’s tight, but these boys are tried and tested and ready to execute the next play to keep it going.”
In other boys league action from Thursday night, the Briercrest Christian Academy Cougars (1-2) took a 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-22) win over Riverview/Mortlach (0-2) and Cornerstone Christian School (2-1) defeated the Peacock Toilers (1-2) 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 28-30, 25-22).
Action from earlier in the week saw Avonlea (1-1) defeat Peacock 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-20) and, in the closest game of the week, Cornerstone battled to a 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 18-25, 25-16, 15-8) win over Briercrest.
In girls league action Thursday, the Vanier Spirits also remained undefeated as they look to defend their league title, improving to 2-0 with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 26-24) win over the Central Cyclones (0-3). The Peacock Toilers (2-0) kept pace with a commanding win of their own, 3-0 (25-21, 25-9, 25-11) over Cornerstone (1-2).
Earlier in the week, the Spirits won their season opener 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-19) over Cornerstone and Briercrest Christian (1-1) defeated Central 3-1 (25-18, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23).
