Caronport's Randi Fehr smashes the ball during the City Final against Peacock

A tough end to a dominant season for the Caronport Cougars Senior Girls Volleyball team over the weekend as they lost in the finals of the 4A Girls Provincials to Oxbow.

The Cougars had a great season despite coming up one win short at Provincials.  They won the Moose Jaw City Championship and played solid volleyball throughout the season.

“We got our feet under us about halfway through the season and won a lot of hardware,” said head coach Shannon Koshman.  “It was a great group of girls, they all get along and a joy to coach.  It's been a very fun season.”

Provincials were going smoothly for Caronport.  They cruised through the round robin without dropping a set and even beating Oxbow in straight sets.  They controlled their quarterfinal game against Nipawin, winning in straigth sets (25-18, 25-15), but then dropped their first set against Macklin during the semifinals before falling in straight sets to Oxbow in the final.

“Oxbow was hands down the best team that we've played so far,” stated Koshman.  “We met up in the round robin and won in two, but they got the upper hand in the final.  It was a hard fought battle on both sides, it was really thrilling to watch.  

“The season didn't end in our favour, but I'm very proud of how my girls played.”

Caronport was the top team throughout the regular season in the Moose Jaw league and played a great City Final game against Peacock to pick up their City Championship in school history.

After such a hard fought season, disappointment was a given for the team after the game, but Koshman says they have nothing to be disappointed about, “They know they played hard.  They left their blood, sweat and tears on that court.  We did so many good things and they know they worked hard, so silver is really good too.”

The team featured a large group of ten Grade 12s and really came together as a team as the season went on.  Koshman says she saw the team getting better as the season went on, “We worked a lot on focusing on our side of the court and not caring who we were playing.  We did a good job of not letting balls drop and working our tails off.”

With such a large group of Grade 12s, turnover will be a given for the Cougars, but Koshman, who won't be back next year as coach, says she feels that the team will come back strong next season, “We still have five core girls that will be on next year and hopefully there will be some more from the community and we should still be a force to be reckoned with.”

It's the Cougar boys turn this weekend to go for Provincial Gold.  They'll be at the 4A Boys Provincials in Nipawin starting on Friday.  Riverview is also off to the 3A Boys Provincials this weekend.