From last place to champions. That’s what the Avonlea Eagles accomplished over the past week.

After posting a 1-7 record during the regular season, the Eagles strung together three straight wins in the playoffs, including a four-set win over the Vanier Vikings on Tuesday night, to capture the Moose Jaw High School Senior Boys Volleyball League championship.

“We’ve been up and down all year and we just decided to bring our ‘A’ game during the playoffs,” said Eagles senior Shane Sippola.

“It feels really good.  We went the long way through the playoffs, but we managed to pull it off and I’m really proud of our team.”

Avonlea topped the Cornerstone Falcons in the league quarterfinal last Tuesday.  They followed that up with an upset of the first place Central Cyclones in the semifinals last Thursday.

Eagles head coach Maryln Stevens said he believed that this team was capable of this level of play all season, “The odds were against us, the guys came together at a good time and they performed quite well tonight, so it was good,” he said.

“It was just a matter of time, but we got it together at the right time… I thought they had this potential, so it was good to see them all come together.”

The Avonlea Eagles celebrate after the match-sealing point in the fourth set on Tuesday night at Sask Polytech. (Photo: Marc Smith)

This is the first league championship for Avonlea and the first time that the Senior Boys League has been won by a school from outside of Moose Jaw.

The Vikings put together a good fight with all four sets coming right down to the final few points.

“There was a lot of swings tonight, we’d get up and they’d fight back, they’d get up and we’d fight back, but both teams came to play today,” said Vanier head coach Levi Broda.

“We could have cleaned up our side of the net a bit, we were a little careless at times with errors, but ultimately, the improvement that our side has had from the start of the year is phenomenal, so our coaching staff is really proud of our boys for where they’re at.”

Avonlea won the first set 25-21, but Vanier responded with a 25-22 win in the second set.  The Vikings then went up 7-0 early in the third set, but Avonlea battled back to tie it up at 11-11 before taking control down the stretch to win, 25-21. 

The final set was another back-and-forth affair with the Eagles securing the match victory with a 25-22 win.

“We played really good and Vanier brought a tough game,” said Sippola.  “Nobody really expected us to be the team that comes out on top, but I’m really proud of our performance tonight.”

Vanier's Riley Follensbee goes up for a kill shot against Avonlea in the Moose Jaw High School Senior Boys Volleyball League championship on Tuesday. (Photo: Marc Smith)

The volleyball season continues this weekend for the local boys teams with conference and regional tournaments happening around the province.

The Vikings will be hosting the 4A Boys South Conference tournament on Friday and Saturday with Shaunavon, Lumsden, Assiniboia and Imperial hitting the court.

Avonlea will also be on their home court for the 1A Boys West Conference tournament as they welcome in Rouleau, Lafleche and Mossbank on Saturday.

Central and Peacock will be in Swift Current for the 5A Boys South Regional tournament.  They hit the court on Friday.

Cornerstone and Riverview are in Cardiff on Friday and Saturday for the 3A Boys South Conference tournament.