The Carpenter High School Senior ‘A’ boys volleyball team has picked up right where it left off. After claiming the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) provincial championship to cap off last year, the squad was victorious in its first tournament of the 2026 season, emerging first overall at an event held this past weekend at St. Mary High School in Prince Albert. “It was our first tournament of the year, and – in pool play – we played three different teams,” remarked CHS boys head coach Cheyne Dallyn. “We played the St. Mary Junior ‘B’ team, Kipling and Centennial Collegiate out of Saskatoon. We won all three of those games, going 3-0 Friday (Sept. 11) in six straight sets.”
This moved CHS into a first versus fourth matchup against Regina’s Sheldon Williams Collegiate. “We ended up beating them two straight Saturday morning (Sept. 12) and, from there, played Yorkton Regional, which was a pretty solid matchup for us,” Dallyn continued. “They played defence with a lot of tenacity, but we ended up beating them 25-23 and 25-20, which put us into the semi-final against the Clavet Cougars. We beat them 25-17 and 25-16 to punch our ticket into the final against Centennial Collegiate. It was the second time meeting them this weekend.”
This time, however, Centennial was a little more challenging for the Spartans to overcome. “They came out and kind of gave it to us a little bit in that first set, taking an early lead 15-6,” Dallyn noted. “We fought our way back and made it respectful in the end, losing 25-22 in the first set. In the second set, we turned the tables, however, and beat them 25-18. The third set was an all out brawl. Both teams played strong defence and it was a battle back-and-forth throughout, but we ended up winning on two stuff blocks to end the game 15-13.” Dallyn said earning a tournament win this early in the season shows the Spartans have a lot of promise. “The biggest thing was resilience when it comes to the final,” he said. “This is a veteran squad. We have 10 returning players, eight of whom are Grade 12 athletes. When it was crunch time, when that Centennial team started going at us, instead of panicking they showed a lot of resilience and battled back. For me, that showed a lot of character… It was fun to watch from a coaching perspective They were clicking on all cylinders, and that’s rare for this early in the year. We hope we can build off this and continue to grow as the season continues.” This coming weekend, the Senior ‘A’ boys will compete at a tournament hosted by the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. “There we will see 24 teams, so the competition pool will be much larger and we will see some of the top teams in the province,” Dallyn said. “If the boys continue to play defence like they did and turn up the speed of their game, they can compete with anyone in this province… We’re going to have a good shot.”
Meanwhile, the CHS Senior ‘A’ girls volleyball team was also in action this past weekend, competing Friday and Saturday at the U of S. “The Senior ‘A’ girls volleyball team had an excellent weekend at the University of Saskatchewan, where they competed against many of the top teams from across the province,” stated Senior ‘A’ girls coach Jim Snodgrass. “The girls played strong volleyball throughout the tournament, facing tough competition from teams such as Martensville, Swift Current, Prince Albert and Saskatoon schools. Their hard work and determination paid off as they advanced to the semi-final, where they faced the talented P.A. Carlton team and put up a strong fight.”
The tournament was hosted by the University of Saskatchewan Women’s Huskies Volleyball Team and gave players an opportunity to compete in the Physical Activity Complex (PAC), something Snodgrass described as “an incredible facility and a wonderful place to play volleyball.” “It was a great weekend of competition, learning and team growth, and the girls should be proud of how they represented our school,” he said. Next up, the Senior ‘A’ girls will compete at a tournament hosted by Carlton Comprehensive in Prince Albert this Friday and Saturday (Sept. 18 and 19).