The high school volleyball season will begin Wednesday much as the last one ended — with the girls’ league holding a favourite and the boys league looking wide open.
The Peacock girls will be looking for their sixth straight city title this season, while last year’s Caronport-Vanier final was somewhat unexpected. Vanier went from finishing fifth during the regular season to winning the city title.
This season, the boys’ league looks fairly wide open once again.
“The guys side could be a real wide-open thing this year,” said league commissioner Darin Wohlgemuth. “Most of the teams graduated a lot of their starting lineup last year and just about everybody is rebuilding.”
Vanier will begin their title defence Wednesday when they head to Central at 8 p.m.
The biggest change this season is the loss of Rouleau from the boys’ league. Rouleau graduated a lot of key players from talented team last season.
Last season Peacock’s girls won their fifth straight championship with a dramatic five-game final that finished 26-24 in the final game.
The Peacock girls are bringing back a lot of key players as they look to continue their streak.
The girls season opens Wednesday with Vanier at Central and Riverview/Cornerstone hosting Avonlea at Riverview. Both games start at 6:15 p.m.
The other major change this season will come in October when the annual invitational tournament is played. This year the boys and girls tournaments will be played simultaneously.
“It will end up being one of the biggest tournaments of the year for high school in the province — if not the biggest,” said Wohlgemuth. “It’s something we’ve tossed around for a couple of years.”
The huge undertaking will feature 40 teams playing in five high schools on eight courts. The two-day tournament will be held Oct. 22-23.
For more please see Wednesday’s Times-Herald.
