The Miami Marlins junior varsity volleyball team won the 2023 MHSAA A/AA JV Boys Volleyball Champions banner in The Pas after winning the provincial final on Nov. 25.
Miami School qualified for the provincials after winning their regional zone last month. In fact, the Marlins dropped just two games all season en route to the provincial title.
“After the first tournament this year, we thought we had something special and just kept rolling with it,” said Miami’s Provincial MVP Luke Swain. “We just got stronger as the year went on, and that carried onto provincials.”
Miami went 2-1 in the round-robin in The Pas to qualify for the single-elimination playoffs. They went on a dream run from there, winning four straight games over some big schools, including Green Valley, Immanuel Christian, Warren and Carberry. Throughout those four games, Miami never dropped a single set.
In the provincial final, Miami took down Carberry by a score of 25-17 and 25-21. After the game, Luke Swain from the Marlins was named Provincials MVP (Most Valuable Player), which is something he didn’t expect.
“I wasn’t expecting to win the provincials, but we knew after we beat Immanuel Christian in the quarterfinals that we had a good shot. We knew we could compete well,” said Swain. “We were just clicking as everyone was playing the best that they could in the playoff round. And it was a real team game. Every point we got was a team point and not an individual point. We’re a super close team, and all of us are best friends, so to do this with them is kind of cool.”
This is only the second provincial win in any sport over the last nine years for the Miami Marlins and the first provincial banner ever in volleyball for Miami.
“You could tell this was a big deal as so many parents, families, and members of the community were tuning in to the live stream during the provincial run,” said Steve Doell, athletic director of Miami School. “People were very excited after the win, telling me that ‘Miami is back on the map,” so the community is really excited and proud of these guys.”
The Marlins junior varsity team consisted mainly of Grade 10 players, so they’ll be strong at the Varsity level for the next two years and will be challenged to bring home another provincial title.
“This team is something really special,” said Marlins’ coach Scott Dyck. “The group of boys get along great on and off the volleyball court. Positive and respectful attitudes are something that our team is noted for wherever we go compete. We as coaches have been extremely lucky to work with a group like this and are extremely excited for what they accomplished this year.”
