The Dauphin Clippers are hoping for a wildcard berth to provincials after failing to win at the interzone playoffs, Saturday in Swan River.

The Clippers boys won their semifinal match, beating the host Swan Valley Tigers, 25-11, 25-19 and 25-15.

In the final against the top-ranked Neelin Spartans, the Clippers fell in straight sets, 20-25, 18-25 and 23-25.

Clippers coach Taylor Schmidt said the team played very well in the first match against the Tigers.

“We played very disciplined and played with a lot of energy. Swan River pushed back a couple of times and the team didn’t panic. They kept playing disciplined volleyball and we were able to beat them three straight,” he said.

It was a different story against the Spartans, the number one-ranked team in AAA volleyball.

Schmidt said the Clippers were playing even with Neelin until late in each match.

“The third set, we had them on the ropes and were playing really, really well. Like the team they are, the number-one team, they’re very consistent. Not a lot wavers from them and they pushed back,” he said.

“I believe it was 23-23 at one point. We played them in the final at the Brandon University tournament, our very first tournament of the year, and the boys showed a lot of improvement and a lot of pushback. I was really proud of how they competed in the finals of the interzones.”

Neelin won that Brandon University tournament over the Clippers, 25-13 and 25-18.

The interzones, each match is a best-of-five, while during the season, matches were a best-of-three.

While that may not change a team’s strategy, it does change a team’s mindset going into each match, Schmidt said.

“To beat someone, any opponent, three sets is tough. Because you’ve got to be pretty consistent throughout the whole match. You can’t take a couple sets off or you can’t take a couple points off. You’ve need to be able to play pretty consistently for a longer period of time,” he said.

“It’s more of a different mindset.”

The Clippers, Schmidt noted, likely played their best volleyball of the season in the third set against Neelin.

“The boys, being down two, didn’t stop competing and actually pushed back,” he said.

The Clippers have applied for a wildcard berth to provincials.

Schmidt is confident his team will make an appearance at provincials, which will be held, Nov. 28 to 30, in Winnipeg, hosted by Westgate Mennonite Collegiate.

Over the course of the season, the Clippers compiled a strong record against other AAA teams.

“Now it’s up to the MHSAA (Manitoba High School Athletic Association),” Schmidt said, adding the Clippers did everything they had control over going into the wildcard selection process.

“The hard part is you don’t know who else applied and you don’t know how many teams there are. We’re hoping for at least a shot at a  match to try and earn our spot.”

The Clippers girls lost their semifinal match to the Virden Golden Bears, going to distance in the best-of-five set match.

The scores were 23-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-21 and 12-15.

It was the only match to go all five sets between the boys and girls’ interzone playoffs.

Neelin also won the girls’ berth, beating Virden in straight sets in the final.