It wasn’t the finish they had hoped for, but the Dauphin Clippers JV girls volleyball team still placed in the top four at provincials, this past weekend in Swan River.
Dauphin began the tournament with a 25-20 and 25-23 win over the Neelin Spartans, then defeated the Linden Christian Wings, 25-23, 27-29 and 15-8, before losing to the top-seeded Virden Golden Bears, 16-25 and 23-25.
Finishing second in their pool placed the Clippers in the quarterfinals, where they defeated the Niverville Panthers, 25-19 and 27-25.
The semifinals was a rematch with Linden Christian, which Dauphin lost, 16-25 and 21-25.
In the bronze medal game, the Clippers faced the W.C. Miller Aces of Altona, losing 17-25 and 21-25, to finish fourth.
Clippers coach Chris Wolfenden was pleased with the team’s play.
“Pool play was great. We ended up beating both Neelin and Linden, which set us up really well. The process of getting to the medal round was really good. We ended up beating Niverville in the quarterfinals, which wasn’t a super easy match,” he said.
“And then, we came up against two really good teams that we couldn’t get past. But I’m proud of the girls. Top four in the province is great. You always leave a tournament like that wishing for more. Hopefully, that motivates the girls to keep getting better.”
Wolfenden added there were a lot of lessons learned, noting the team was battling an illness, as were other teams at the tournament.
“We got to the semis. Top four in the province. I think the girls, after some reflection, will be proud of what they did. Because I know the coaching staff is very proud of them and we let them know that,” he said.
Wolfenden was pleased with the improvement he saw in the team from the start of the season. Noting the team is a mix of players from Grades 9 and 10, they were mostly all new to each other.
“Just becoming a team over time was great. Individually, I think everybody player got better, for sure, because everybody was able to push each other in practice every day. I think it was great. You always expect a group or want a group to do more, but I think the group did everything in their power to be the best that they could be,” he said, adding he enjoyed coaching the team and is looking forward to the future the group will bring to Clippers volleyball.
