The provincial champion, Carpenter High Spartans. Front (L-R): Lester Rapuso, Lucas Flanagan, Noah Pigott, Jackson Bolster (Coach). Middle: Kalem Klassen. Back (L-R): Trent Marsh (Coach), Josh Kirilenko (Player/Coach), Brett Ackerman, Quinn Shakotko, Nikolas Snodgrass, Colby Morin, Gideon Regnier, Julius Roy, Adam Treptow, Dustin Treptow (Coach). (Submitted photo/Trent Marsh)

By Martin Martinson

4A volleyball gold

Spartans senior boys repeat as provincial champs

Nov 28, 2023 | 1:53 PM

The Carpenter High School senior boys volleyball team recently capped their season in memorable fashion, taking home a provincial gold medal over the weekend, in Melfort.

For the Spartans’ senior boys, it marks their second straight 4A provincial championship, as the team went undefeated on their road to the top of the podium.

“We’re just really happy for the guys, and our Grade 12s especially have been putting a lot of time into volleyball for a lot of years, so it’s nice to be able to see all the hard work they’ve put in pay off,” head coach of the team, Trent Marsh said.

Opening the tournament with straight-sets wins over Moose Jaw Vanier (25-11; 25-8), Humboldt (25-13; 25-21), and Melville (25-15; 25-11), the team then faced their toughest test of round robin play with a pair of down-to-the-wire finishes in their two-set victory over Moose Jaw Central (25-21; 25-21) to advance to the playoff rounds Saturday red-hot.

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Only gaining momentum as the tournament progressed, in the quarterfinals the Spartans topped Lumsden (25-8; 25-21), then edged Melfort (25-20; 25-22) in the semis, to set up their meeting with North Battleford’s John Paul II in the final; a matchup Carpenter took (25-17; 25-15) to clinch the gold.

Marsh said as he looks back at the team’s run to the provincial championship, and the season as a whole, it’s the group’s development over the course of the year that really stands out.

“This year it was pretty sweet because at the start of the year, we had a lot of new guys and a lot in new spots on the court, so the first few weekends were a little bit rough trying to figure things out, but we knew we had a pretty physically-talented group so if we could get everyone rolling we could have something pretty special,” he said. “To see it all come together, we were very happy and very proud of the guys for rising to the occasion.”

The provincial gold adds to an impressive collection of hardware for the Spartans in recent years, with two golds and a silver at the 4A level over the last three years. Dating back to pre-pandemic, the team also won a 5A gold in 2019, and bronze in 2018.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

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