The Central Cyclones fourth volleyball tournament title of the year didn’t come easily — which is what made it all the more satisfying.
The Cyclones didn’t finish in first place in either of their preliminary pools, but when all was said and done at the Moose Jaw Senior Boys Volleyball Tournament, the Cyclones were on top of the heap.
“It was nice to put a statement on the end of the tournament,” said Cyclones head coach Shaune Gray. “We struggled at the start of the tournament — which was good for us. It let us work on some things we needed to work on.”
The Cyclones beat Winnipeg’s Garden City 25-21, 25-13 in the final after beating Yorkton Regional 25-16, 25-14 in the semifinal.
They opened the tournament by posting a 4-2 record in their initial pool after losing to Estevan. In the re-pool they were once again 4-2 after losing to Garden City and then beating Caronport and Weyburn.
Caronport lost to Yorkton in the quarter-finals, while Central beat Swift Current.
The Cyclones had lost their Saturday morning game with Garden City 30-28, 25-20, but they were much better by Saturday evenings’ final.
“We put a little more pressure on them and they didn’t dig as many balls as they did this morning,” said Gray.
Central is headed to a tournament in Yorkton next weekend and then following weekend are off to regionals to begin the push towards a berth at provincials in North Battleford.
