MHSAA 2022 BOSTON PIZZA VARSITY VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

MHSAA 2022 BOSTON PIZZA VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

MHSAA 2022 Boston Pizza Volleyball Championships Awards

MHSAA 2022 Volleyball Participants

Sabres hang tough and win memorable AAAA championship

Written by Clayton Dreger

The Steinbach Regional Secondary School’s varsity boys volleyball team won what can only be described as one of the most memorable Provincial AAAA high school finals in recent history.

The SRSS defeated the St. Paul’s Crusaders 25-23, 25-20, 24-26, 23-25, 16-14 in a marathon back-and-forth final Monday night at the University of Manitoba’s Investors Group Athletic Centre and captured the school’s second championship banner in eight years in front of hundreds of boisterous fans who made the trip to Winnipeg. 

Boston Thiessen and Nik Reimer were selected Tournament All-Stars while Hudson Rempel was named the MVP.

“We came out and played really well the first couple of sets and the third set was a battle,” said Sabres head coach Joe Thiessen. “We knew it was going to be a battle against these guys. I thought we had them on the ropes there. They took the third set and I think we had a letdown in the fourth set and the fifth set – you saw it, 16-14. It was right down to the wire.”

“Real proud of the guys,” added coach Thiessen. “Our MVP Hudson was awesome. Finally got some recognition for that guy. I’m proud of him. Boston was the court general. He always is leading the troops. He had a great match. Nik was amazing. Our libero Nate Neufeld was steady and I thought maybe the difference in the match. Real proud of the guys.”

Boston Thiessen said the team got a huge lift from their enthusiastic supporters.

“It felt like we were back in our zone final when we had all the crowd at our gym. It’s crazy what a crowd can do even if they’re not on the court playing, right. It gave us a really good boost when we were down. Especially down 13-12, we get that point, 13-13 and it’s just a huge boost for ourselves and our confidence for sure.”

Nik Reimer was a force in the final as the grade 11 outside hitter had 53 hits and recorded 11 kills from the net and the attack line. Defensively he had six blocks and looked as dominant as former USports champion Eric Loeppky did in his grade 11 year when the Sabres won their first AAAA championship banner back in 2014. 

“Last year was a bit of a tough year for our JV team and moving up to varsity I thought it would be a very big challenge and it was,” Reimer noted. “I’m really proud that I was able to get a championship because I know they’re tough to come by. It’s only our second championship. I’m really proud of our guys. I think the difference was our fans. Our fans really bring the energy. Our teammates brought the energy. It was just the energy. It was really great.”

Hudson Rempel, whose leaping ability brought back memories of legendary Sabre Paul Reimer, had eight kills along with one block and an ace in his last high school game and was well deserving of his MVP honour.

His reaction to winning the award was short and sweet.

“Amazing. That’s my only word. That’s my only word for that.”

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Six provincial high school varsity volleyball champions were crowned Saturday. The Landmark 96’ers boys and Major Pratt Trojans girls captured the Provincial “AA” championships in The Pas. The 96ers defeated Gabrielle Roy Les Roy 25-23, 19-25, 15-9 while the Trojans beat the Hapnot Kopper Queens 25-19, 25-18. The Rosenort Redhawks beat Gabrielle Roy 26-24, 25-21 in the girls third place game. The Westgate Wings beat College Beliveau 25-14, 25-15 in the “AAA” girls championship game in Neepawa. The Linden Christian Wings defeated Transcona 18-25, 25-16, 18-16 in the “AAA” boys final in Steinbach. The host Steinbach Christian Flames lost to Northlands Parkway in the quarterfinals. The Deloraine Colts defeated Hamiota 14-25, 25-23, 15-11 in the “A” girls championship game in Gretna. The Treherne Tigers beat Wawanesa 19-25, 25-19, 15-13 in the “A” boys final in Elm Creek.