The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Hapnot's senior boys volleyball team was in Portage la Prairie this past weekend for a tournament, where they had a chance to see some of the top teams in the province. They played Linden Christian in their first games, and split with them, winning one game each. In their second game, they played 5th ranked Swan Valley, where they lost both games by one point each. Hapnot met up with Windsor Park next, where they split the series. In their fourth set, Hapnot played a team from Kenora Ontario, where they split the series. Next they played the top ranked Neelin Spartans, but lost both games. They also lost twice to Portage, who are ranked third in the province. This left Hapnot in fifth place out of seven teams in their pool, just out of the playoffs. Hapnot was ranked eighth in the province after losing to Thompson in the opening tournament of the season. Thompson moved up to seventh place. "We know we have to work on our team defence," said coach Craig McIntosh. "We have to improve our hitting at the power position. Our hitting coverage is pretty good. Our serves are pretty good." Hapnot is the defending zone 11 champions, but lost a lot of players to graduation last year. "We have a young team," said McIntosh. "The majority of the team are juniors coming up and haven't played this level of ball before. Most of our mistakes were mental. Now they know that we can compete with these teams. The next time they go down, they won't have the initial fear factor to deal with." While at the tournament, the boys were able to catch part of the University of Winnipeg's volleyball tournament, where some of the best teams in the country were in action. "It was good for the guys to see that high level of ball," said McIntosh. The team will now have two weeks to practice, with a weekend off for Thanksgiving. They will be in Swan River for a tournament on October 17 and 18, with another two weeks off before another big tournament in Brandon. The tournament in Brandon, hosted by Neelin, will feature 16 of the top teams in the province. Zones are in Thompson on the weekend of November 14 and 15. Hapnot may participate at a tournament in Cranberry Portage the weekend before to sharpen their skills and prepare for Zones.
