The Dauphin Clippers JV girls volleyball team won its first tournament of the season, capturing the title at the Elton Sabres JV Invitational, Friday and Saturday.
The Clippers finished second in their pool, opening with a 23-25 and 17-25 loss to the Gilbert Plains Trojans.
Dauphin rebounded to beat the Glenboro Panthers, 25-10 and 25-6, then defeated the Hamiota Huskies, 25-24 and 25-12, before clinching second place with a 25-7 and 25-14 win over the Carberry Cougars.
The Clippers began their march to the tournament title with a 25-18 and 25-16 win over the host Sabres, then defeated the Prairie Mountain Predators, 25-14 and 25-15 in the semifinals.
The final was an all-Parkland affair as the Clippers got a measure of revenge over the Trojans, beating the Gilbert Plains squad, 25-22 and 25-18.
The Trojans’ march to the final began with a 25-14 and 25-7 win over Hamiota in pool play.
After beating Dauphin in the round-robin, Gilbert Plains split with Carberry, 21-25 and 25-13, before beating Glenboro, 25-11 and 25-11, clinching first place in their pool.
In the quarterfinals, the Trojans beat Hamiota, 25-23 and 25-21, and reached the final with a 19-25, 29-27 and 16-14 win over Carberry in the semifinals, setting the stage for the rematch with Dauphin in the final.
Second straight loss on the gridiron
The Dauphin Clippers played well in their second game of the Rural Manitoba Football League season, Saturday, but fell short in a 36-28 loss to the Southwest Sabres in Souris.
Clippers manager Jeff Michasiw said the team played “lights out”, but fell victim to a pair of speedy Southwest players.
“They have a couple of fast players that got the ball outside and were able to beat us on the outside. So they took one back on a touchdown on that,” he said. “And then Souris had two plays where their receivers made juggling catches. Our cornerback was in the right spot. He swatted the ball, but they just made really athletic plays and were able to catch the ball. And they scored on both those plays.”
Despite falling to 0-2 on the young season, the Clippers are continuing to improve with each game, he said.
“We’re seeing improvement with game after game, so we’re not worried about the season yet,” Michasiw said.
Among things the team needs to work on is simple execution of the small things that make a team successful.
“The defence had three or four takeaways. They held them good for most of the game. Souris was, at times, struggling to get any offence going. So it’s just a full 60 minutes that we have to put in,” Michasiw said.
The Clippers will host the Interlake Thunder, Friday at 4:30 p.m.
“I don’t have too much information on how Interlake is playing right now. But the coaches are going to get to work and we’re going to come up with a game plan and hopefully, get our first W at home,” Michasiw said.
Prior to the game, there will be some presentations made to the team.
