A dozen volleyball teams, most of them from the southeast corner of the province, were in Estevan on Friday and Saturday for the Estevan Extreme’s annual under-14 tournament.
Round robin games were played at the Estevan Comprehensive School and St. Mary’s School, and the playoffs at the Comp.
“We were so excited about hosting this tournament, as we were seeing who was entering our tournament. After talking to coaches here in Estevan and from the other teams, everybody is extremely pleased with how the southeast corner is coming along in volleyball, and how we’re showing up in the standings over the province,” said Estevan Extreme president Mandy Murray.
The other teams who came appreciate the level of competition as well, she said. The semifinals and the medal round games all went to three sets.
The Estevan Extreme Storm went 5-1 during the weekend to reach the final against the Oxbow Black Knights, which Oxbow won 2-1. Oxbow took the first set 25-18, but Estevan responded to take the second stanza 25-23, and force a third set.
The Black Knights won that one 15-12 to finish first.
The Storm defeated the Southeast Vipers Green from Arcola 2-0, the Yorkton Blitz Lightning 2-0 and the Moose Jaw Thunder 2-0. Then they played the Estevan Extreme Thunder in the quarter-finals, a game the Storm won 2-0, and they defeated the Southeast Vipers Black 2-1 in the semifinals in a match that Murray said was one of the best of the tournament.
The Estevan Extreme Thunder went 2-4 during the weekend and finished sixth. They opened with a 2-0 loss to Kipling’s Wheatland Attack in what Murray said was a close match. Then they swept the Blitz Crush out of Yorkton 2-0, but lost 2-0 to the Weyburn Warriors in their final round-robin game.
After losing to the Storm in the quarter-finals, they responded with a 2-0 win over Weyburn, but then they lost 2-0 to the Southeast Vipers Green in their final contest.
“The Thunder played really well,” said Murray, who is also the coach of the Thunder. “We were against some pretty tough competition. The top four teams in the tournament are in the top 10 in the province, so I think we played really well.”
It was good to have a game against the Storm because the players on both teams know each other well and they’re friends.
The Thunder served really well during the weekend, and they were much better at setting and hitting the ball.
“There are some girls on our team who have never played club volleyball before (this season), and I feel like they’re catching up, and it’s a totally different team than what we started with in December. I feel like they’re excelling each week.”
In the bronze medal game, the Southeast Vipers Black defeated the Wheatland Attack.
