The Predators 17U volleyball team is serving up a solid season for fans.
Based out of the Parkland, the club continues to put together strong weekend performances. At an event earlier this month in Dauphin, the Predators went undefeated in the round-robin, dispatching Russell, Vipers 16U, and Vipers 17U.
The team then beat Russell in the championship final in straight sets to win the title. With that great weekend, they improved to 12-3 on the season at that point. Bryce Shewchuk is the team's head coach and he is very impressed with how tactically strong this team is.
"They don't quit on a ball," said Shewchuk. "Other teams will be celebrating already and we just continue to play and a lot of the time we're diving around the court and putting the ball back over the net to win the point. It's pretty impressive to watch, we have continiuous pressure."
The Predators took the Providence Junior Pilots tournament by storm in their most recent action and outlasted their opponents. Playing in a stacked field full of 16 of the top teams in the province, the Predators were the final team standing.
They finished second in their pool after round-robin play and followed that up with a thrilling three-set win against the Westman Wave to advance to the semi-finals. They beat the U16 Jr Pilots to advance to the final and playing for a gold medal, the Predators downed the Jr Bisons in straight sets, 25-20, and 25-16.
"This group has a very high powered offence, we serve very tough with a high ace percentage," offered Shewchuk. "This group is something special, they really want to win and they always want to be the best."
Looking ahead, the Predators are gearing up for more challenges, including the Bandits tournament in Manitoba's capital and the prestigious Best of the Prairies event in Regina. With their sights set on the national championships in Edmonton in May, the team remains focused on maintaining consistency and improving their performance against top-tier opponents.
"We just want to play well and consistently leading up to the nationals," ended Shewchuk. "We will only get better by playing top teams so we're in a good spot and we're looking forward to our next event."
