It has been an eventful few week for both the Newfoundland and Labrador men’s and women’s Volleyball teams. Both teams put up a good fight and played multiple crucial do-or-die games.
Team NL Men Make it to the Quarter-Finals
The men’s team found themselves in Pool A, featuring British Columbia, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Their first two games were against Saskatchewan and Quebec, where they managed to keep it close, but ultimately lost 3-0.
Their third and final game of the prelims was against British Columbia. Both teams entered the game with a 0-2 record and needed a win to guarantee a spot in the quarter-finals. While a loss wouldn’t have eliminated either team, it would have forced them to play an extra qualification game.
BC beat NL in the first set, handily winning with a score of 25-12. NL bounced back and won a very close second and third set (25-22, 25-23). BC came out on top in the fourth set 25-19, forcing a fifth and penultimate set.
NL would win another very close set, scoring 18-16 over BC, and finishing the preliminary round with a 1-2 record, placing third in Pool A. This secured their spot in the quarter finals, where they had a tough matchup against the reigning silver medalist, Alberta.
Alberta was second in Pool B, finishing with a record of 2-1. They beat both New Brunswick and Manitoba, although neither win was dominant, as the score was 3-2. Alberta would lose their third preliminary game 3-0 to Ontario.
Entering the quarter-finals, the stakes were high. The winning team would go to the semi-finals, where they would be guaranteed a shot at competing for a medal, while the loser would have to play consolation games concluding with a lower stakes final.
Alberta would ultimately beat NL 3-0, erasing the host province’s hope at a volleyball medal on home soil; however, the game was a lot closer than the scores suggest. The final two sets of the game were only 25-23 and 25-21 wins for Alberta.
NL would ultimately go on to play in the 7 vs. 8 final against BC, losing in straight sets 3-0. Alberta ended up beating Quebec in the semi-finals, earning an opportunity to play for a gold medal, and beat Manitoba in the gold medal game 3-0.
Women Finish Second Place in Pool C
The women’s team also had a very formidable week. They found themselves in Pool C, which featured the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Yukon.
NL came out guns a-blazing, winning their first three games of the preliminaries, beating NWT and Nunavut 3-0 each, before beating Yukon 3-1.
Their final preliminary match-up came against PEI. It was a crucial game; both teams were 3-0 and fighting for first place in their pool. While both teams would still ultimately have to play qualification games the following day before locking in a spot in the quarter-finals, being atop of their pool and finishing the prelims undefeated is a huge momentum boost.
This game was very back and forth, as the first four sets were quite close and saw NL and PEI going back and forth with one another. This resulted in a winner-take-all fifth set to decide who would complete the prelims undefeated. PEI would ultimately overcome NL, winning the last set 15-12, and earning first place in Pool C.
This meant NL would need to play an early morning qualification game the following day against Nova Scotia, where the winner would move on to the quarter-finals and face off against Saskatchewan.
Nova Scotia would win the first two sets with ease, before NL bounced back in a big way, winning the third set 25-23 and keeping their quarter-final hopes alive. Nova Scotia ultimately won a very competitive fourth set 25-20, eliminating NL from a medal for Indoor Women’s Volleyball.
After the game, members of the Team NL women’s volleyball team took great pride in representing their province at home.
Player Julia White said it’s been “nice to show everyone who we are and what this place is all about.”
Coming from Spaniards Bay, she says she felt very proud to “represent where [she’s] from” and to “show [her] community who [she is].”
Team NL athlete and MUN Student Kianna Moore said the team has “put in a lot of hard work” in preparing for the Canada Games, and that the “time spent together on and off the court is definitely showing.”
Team NL would ultimately end up playing in the 9 vs. 10 final, facing off yet again against PEI, and losing another close one 3-2.
It was an action-packed Canada Games on the volleyball court for Team NL, and they earned multiple opportunities to play in some big games in front of the home crowd.
