Les Rouges women’s team wins MCAC volleyball championship

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This article was published 16/03/2022 (1659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. BONIFACE

The Université de Saint-Boniface Les Rouges women’s volleyball team held court recently, winning the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference championship in thrilling fashion.

The southeast Winnipeg-based team beat the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers in a five-set match at Assiniboine Community College’s Victoria Avenue East campus in Brandon on March 6.

According to a news release, the top-ranked Les Rouges beat the third-seeded Blazers 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 15-7 to win the MCAC title for the first time since 2003.

It was one of several times this season that the two teams went the distance in head-to-head meetings and the fourth time Les Rouges — which had a 14-2 regular season record — came away with the win.

Evan Turenne, Les Rouges’ head coach and the 2021-22 MCAC coach of the year, told Canstar that he felt the team would be in the mix at the start of the season.

“As a coach, you have a sense of where the team might line up,” Turenne, noting it was time to bring home a volleyball championship banner for the women’s team. “You know when you’re working with a special group of players, and this goes beyond their athletic ability.”

“This year, we have an extremely close-knit group that has a team-first mentality and approach. Our players were very willing to take on different roles, and they are extremely close and willing to work together. There are no egos on the team, and it’s been a really fun team to work with. It’s been quite the ride this season.”

Turenne added that the championship game was very representative of the Rouges’ season.

“The competition in the conference is very high, and it shows our strength and mental toughness that we’ve been able to grind out games. I’m really proud of our girls,” he said.

Officials say the championship MVP was Les Rouges’ Sam Lemoine, who registered 53 assists. USB also had 15 kills apiece from Sophie Morrice and Valeria Gonzalez, while CMU was led by its player of the game Renee Desroches.

The conference championship is the fourth in the history of the women’s program at USB — after three wins in a row in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

The team now advances as the MCAC representative in the 2022 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association women’s volleyball national championship hosted by Holland College in Charlottetown, P.E.I. from March 25 to 27.

Go online at mcacathletics.ca for more information.