Hawks soar to provincial title

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This article was published 03/12/2021 (1373 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute is home to another provincial championship banner, thanks to the junior varsity boys volleyball team.

“This group is special,” said Tanner Owens, who was in his first year as head coach of the team. “We weren’t doing this because we wanted to win. We did this to honour the legacy that Brian Plett has created at MBCI.”

Undefeated in 10 league games in the Kilcona Peguis Athletic Conference, MBCI’s junior varsity boys squad beat Miles Macdonell Collegiate in the KPAC semifinal, then beat Garden City in three straight sets to win the division title and head into the AAAA provincial as the top ranked junior varsity team.

“In the fall, (the team) looked like kids who hadn’t played in a year and a half,” Owens admitted. “These kids had very basic volleyball knowledge, some had no experience. I had a few kids who’d never played before who actually contributed in the end.”

What the team lacked in experience it made up for in determination.

“We always had the attitude to play for each and support one another, and alternately keep ourselves in check,” Owens said. “A lot of these guys didn’t think we’d be top 10 in the province. But … we found we could be one of the stronger teams if we worked hard and continued to be disciplined.”

An early game against divisional rival Garden City set the bar for Owens on what the team could achieve if they put their collective minds to it.

“We were down 24-17 and we came back and won 26-24,” Owens recalled. “That clicked to me that we could be a competitive team because of that morale. We don’t quit for balls, we play to the end. We never accepted defeat.” 

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Northeast Winnipeg was well represented at the boys AAAA JV provincial tourney this year. Eighth ranked Miles Macdonell Collegiate joined the top ranked MBCI Hawks and No. 2 ranked River East Collegiate in the tournament. However, Daniel McIntyre beat Miles Mac 25-21, 14-25, 25-12, 25-22 in the preliminary round to end the Buckeyes’ championship dreams.

In the quarter-finals, MBCI beat Daniel McIntyre, while REC beat seventh ranked Steinbach on Nov. 26. In the semifinals, MBCI took on old foe Garden City, beating the Fighting Gophers in five sets, while REC lost to St. Paul’s to set up the championship match.

MBCI beat St. Paul’s 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-21, 28-26) to win the provincial championship. 

“In the final, we were up 24-20 and they crawled back, and they even had two set points, but we fought back and got those points back,” Owens said. “We competed for every point, no matter the deficit.”

MBCI’s Miles Guenther-Hoorman was named tournament MVP, while Hawks’ Travis Schroeder and Sam Ross were named to the tournament all-star team, along with River East’s Yeb Kuentsler.

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112

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