SRSS volleyball aiming to continue standout AAAA run

It is a season of high expectations for the Steinbach Regional Secondary School’s varsity boys volleyball team.

That isn’t reflected by the team’s wins, but how head coach Kyle Martens responded after the team’s first league loss of the season in four sets to Dakota Oct. 2.

“We didn’t show up tonight,” Martens said.

“Everything from serving to passing to offense, defense. Nothing really looked good tonight. We’ll try to regroup.”

Dakota brought a large line-up to the SRSS gymnasium, and it appeared Steinbach played right into the Lancers’ size advantage.

There wasn’t much time for the Sabres to re-set after the loss, playing in the Lloyd Voth Invitational at St Paul’s Collegiate this weekend.

“We try to get the guys to watch videos of themselves,” Martens said when asked how the team looks to rebound after a tough outing.

“Things we did well, things we did errors on… We try to analyze a bit, and then try to change it up next time.”

It was a strong performance for Steinbach at the tournament, as they only lost out to the hosts in the semi-final, and picked up a win in the third place match over the Mennonite Brethren Hawks.

The Sabres have made the semi-finals in all three tournaments they’ve played in this season, helping them to a current spot of fifth in the Manitoba Hydro AAAA provincial power rankings.

Rankings can be key for a team to ensure a spot at the provincial finals, even if they falter in their league championship.

“It’s a really good group of guys, their character is really awesome, so they’re fun to coach,” Martens said.

“I feel like we’re a little deeper than we were last year. We’ve got some options and the roster is built pretty good that way.”

The Sabres play in a highly competitive high school volleyball league, the South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC).

“Our goal is top four of the province and be in the SCAC final,” Martens said.

“We’ve just got to shift some things to get there.”

The SRSS girls varsity team is reloading after winning the provincial AAAA championship last season. They were ranked seventh in the most recent provincial power rankings, after being unranked to start the season.

The Sabres only have a single loss in league play so far this season, with a fifth place finish in the Royal Rumble Girls Invitational tournament to start the season.

The team also put together a strong effort at their second tournament, the Mennonite Bretheren Collegiate Institute invitational, finishing in the top of their pool before bowing out to Westwood in the quarterfinals.

“The girls are a good group of people, nevermind players, and that’s always fun to coach,” head coach Amy Toews said after a victory against Dakota Oct. 2.

“We’re trying different things, and it’s fun.”

Toews said she loves how positive the team is this year, noting the Sabres are able to keep upbeat even when down on the scoreboard.

“They haven’t all played together yet, and (the players are) trying to figure out that chemistry and nuances with one another,” she said.

“I think that will come as the season goes along.”

The Sabres went out to Trinity Western University in B.C. to play at a tournament earlier this season. Trinity Western is the new home for Sienna Drieger, who graduated from SRSS last season. It’s also the alma mater of Team Canada standout and former Sabre Eric Loeppky.

Nik Reimer, who forewent his grade 12 season in a Sabres uniform to train with Canada’s national volleyball development program in Quebec, is playing at the University of British Columbia this season.

“It’s been a busy few weeks,” Toews said, laughing.

“The season just gets going right away.”

The Sabres have won three AAAA banners in the last two seasons, with the boys varsity team winning in 2022 and both the varsity and junior varsity girls teams winning last year.

This year’s boys junior varsity team has been strong and are currently ranked second in the province, with the girls’ holding onto 10th.

Games played by the varsity Sabres Oct. 9 against Leo-Remillard were completed after press time.