The JPII Seniors boys placed 4th at provincials this past weekend in Moose Jaw. (John Paul II Collegiate/Facebook)

By Austin Mattes

Volleyball Provincials

JPII wraps up the season with 4th place

Nov 28, 2024 | 2:56 PM

The volleyball season officially came to an end this past weekend for the John Paul II Collegiate Crusaders senior boys volleyball team as they were in Moose Jaw and got 4th place in the 4A provincial championship.

The tournament started off with a four-game round robin to determine which teams would make it to the playoff bracket, and this year, the competition was stronger than ever.

“No time in my history that I’ve attended provincials has the competition ever been this tight. This year was ultra tight and competitive. I’ve never seen such a high level of athleticism and skill from so many of the teams.” said Shelly Fransoo, Coach of the JPII Senior Boys Volleyball Team.

But despite the strong competition, right off the hop, JPII came out strong, winning their first game 2-1 against Yorkton Sacred Heart.

In the second round robin game, JPII took on Lumsden, where they won 2-0.

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For the third game, the Crusaders took on Humboldt, who they have had close games against throughout the season and ended up winning 2-0.

Then in the last game of the round robin, JPII took on a strong MJ Central team and took the victory in that game as well to go 4-0 in the round robin and get a first-place ranking for the playoff bracket.

In the first game of the playoffs, JPII took on a familiar foe in Meadow Lake. The first set went to Crusaders 25-16. The second set was taken by Meadow Lake 25-20. Then in the final set, JPII pulled away, winning 15-10 to advance to the semi-finals.

For the semi-finals, it was a rematch against Humboldt, and the Crusaders started off hot, winning the first set 25-22. But in the second, Humboldt bounced back, winning 25-17. So it all came down to the final set and after lots of good rallies back and forth, Humboldt ended up winning 15-10, sending JPII to the third-place game.

The Crusaders took on MJ Vanier in the third-place game and ended losing two sets to one to get 4th place.

“We wanted top four. We knew that the competition was going to be tight, didn’t realize even how tight it was actually going to be. So for us to walk away with top 4 placement, we’re very happy with that.” said Fransoo.

“We are very proud. We went down to this tournament, we feel that we represented our school very, very well.” Fransoo added.

Rather than JPII, there was other boys teams in the region that also placed very well in their respective provincial tournaments. Edam placed 3rd in the 1A provincials, Wilkie got 3rd in the 2A division and Unity grabbed 3rd in 3A.

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Austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes