The 15U Predators Volleyball Club hit the road to take part in a tournament in Moose Jaw. It was the team's first event of season and they started things off with a bang.
The team includes nine different players from Grandview and Gilbert Plains. The list of players features, Taylor Sigvaldason, Jorja Cords, Jaidyn Cords, Ezra Zamonsky, Emma Froese, Raelee Brasch, Amanda Evans, Kourtney Mancheese, and Hailey Tabak.
The tournament in Moose Jaw was a 22 team field and no one was better than the lone team from the Parkland. The 15U Predators went undefeated on their way to winning a title in their first tournament of the season.
"The weekend went really well. We weren't really expecting it because it was our first tournament of the year," said Dave Sigvaldason, Head Coach. "We went in with no expectations and we weren't really worried about the results, however, it was great to win."
In the round-robin, the team beat Outlimits Fusion, 25-7, 25-17, and they followed that up with a two-set win against the Thunder Creek Elite, 25-17, and 25-13. In their final round-robin game, they beat Estevan Extreme, 25-18, 25-16.
In the quarterfinals, they hammered QCVC Royal Black, 25-14, 25-13. In the semi-finals, they beat the Yorkton Blitz, 25-13, 25-18. That set up a finals game against the Jr. Sundogs Black. In that match, the team from the Parkland continued their straight-set dominance with a 25-10, 25-23 win.
Add that up and the team played 12 sets and they won all 12.
"We were able to control a lot of points based on how well we served," added Sigvaldason. "Because we served so well, we were getting a lot of free balls back so we were able to run our offence very efficiently. We wanted to put as much pressure on them and we did that pretty well."
The team's coaching staff also includes Jaelyn Frykas of Gilbert Plains and Sandy Hafenbrak of Ethelbert.
The group will play six more tournaments ahead of the nationals which are set for May 13-16 in Edmonton, Alberta. Next up is a tournament in Winnipeg on February 21-22. They also play an event in Brandon, Dauphin, Brandon, and two other ones in Winnipeg.
The third and final tournament in Winnipeg will be on April 25 and 26 when the team plays in the provincials.
"Confidence is a huge thing in any sport and our girls have a lot of it after winning in Moose Jaw," concluded Sigvaldason. "We have some big tournaments coming up and the competition will be tough in a lot of them."
