The Stonewall Rams varsity boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams battled for provincial glory last week in what marked the final games as Rams for their graduating Grade 12 athletes.
Neither squad came home with a medal, but both delivered determined performances in their final outings of the season.
The varsity girls came closest to the podium, advancing to Saturday’s bronze-medal match at Linden Christian School before falling to the Neelin Spartans.
The varsity boys, meanwhile, saw their run end Friday morning with a playoff-round loss to the Dauphin Clippers at Springs Christian Academy East.
Girls finish fourth at AAA Provincials
Stonewall entered AAA Provincials as one of the top four ranked teams and opened in Pool 1. The Rams dropped all three pool matches on Thursday, falling to the W.C. Miller Aces (14-25, 16-25), Neelin Spartans (25-16, 16-25, 11-15) and Westgate Wings (17-25, 23-25), placing fourth in their pool.
Their pre-tournament ranking earned them a bye into Friday’s quarterfinal, where they rebounded with a straight-set win over the St. John’s-Ravenscourt Eagles (25-18, 25-20) to secure a semifinal berth.
Stonewall met W.C. Miller again in the Saturday morning semifinal, with the Aces repeating their earlier result (14-25, 14-25). That set up a bronze-medal rematch with Neelin.
After dropping the opening set, the Rams forced a third with a strong second-set performance. Neelin, however, regained control in the decider and claimed bronze with a 19-25, 25-13, 15-6 victory.
Graduating players completing their varsity careers on the girls’ side included Lucy Hoff, Jordan Hudon, Kamryn Hunnam, Rhea Myers, Kenzi Porter, Adria Vandersteen and Morgan Walker.
Boys bow out in playoff round
The varsity boys opened AAA Provincials in Pool 3 with losses to the St. Maurice Patriots (10-25, 19-25), Steinbach Christian Flames (14-25, 19-25), and St. John’s Tigers (23-25, 25-20, 5-15), finishing 0-3 in pool play.
That placed them fourth heading into Friday’s playoff round, where they faced the Dauphin Clippers for a spot in the quarterfinals. The Clippers closed out the match in straight sets (25-1, 25-15), ending Stonewall’s season.
Six Grade 12 athletes wrapped up their Rams volleyball careers: Nathaniel Greenidge, Cai James, Ben Kavanagh, Easton Killbery, Jack Palmer and Carson Schaeffer.
