The Carpenter High School Spartans pictured here with their gold medals and '2022 provincial champions' plaque. (submitted photo/Carpenter High School)

By Martin Martinson

4A volleyball Champs

Spartans senior boys take provincial gold on home court

Nov 28, 2022 | 3:54 PM

Carpenter High School’s senior boys volleyball team are 4A provincial champions.

Taking home the gold in their home gym over the weekend with a perfect 7-0 record, the Spartans won 14-straight sets on their way to the title, their second on the provincial stage since 2019.

Assistant coach Trent Marsh said he was proud of the team for what they were able to achieve, with high expectations heading into the weekend as the top seed and tournament hosts.

“One of the hardest things to do is host provincials and win it, so I was just really happy our guys were able to block out the distractions and stay focused to accomplish something they knew they could do, and actually be able to do it,” Marsh said.

A look in from provincials over the weekend at Carpenter High School. (submitted photos/Carpenter High School)

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The Spartans opened their tournament with successive victories over Melville, Martensville, La Loche and Melfort through their four games of round-robin play, to enter the playoff rounds as the top seed overall.

In the quarter-finals, the team continued to roll with a 25-10, 25-13 victory over Saskatoon’s Marion Graham to advance to the semifinals, where they would then top Moose Jaw Vanier 25-20, 26-24, the latter set of which really showed the character of the group to stick with it.

“That was one of those sets where the mental toughness and the resiliency really showed through for the team,” Marsh said. “We were down as many as six or seven points at times in that final set and we just kept going. We closed the gap to end up tying it at 24 on our way to winning the match.”

The victory punched the Spartans’ ticket to the finals for the second time in as many years, in a rematch of last year’s provincial final with the defending champions from North Battleford’s John Paul II Collegiate.

This time around, the Spartans again dug deep to win the opening game 25-22, before rallying in the second from an early deficit to win 25-18 and clinch the provincial title.

Marsh said what stands out most about the team’s run to the gold was their resiliency, and seeing the hard work put in all season pay off for the group.

“It’s probably one of the hardest-working teams I’ve ever coached and our best players were our hardest workers which just filtered down to the rest of the team,” he said.

“They have a certain mental toughness and resiliency where it doesn’t really matter what situation they’re in, they just keep working, playing good defence and they pass well, so when you can do that, the rest of the stuff kind of takes care of itself.”

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1