Gravelle, Neelin chase AAA provincial volleyball title
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2023 (713 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The weight of this weekend has already set in for Anne Gravelle.
“Every other year I’ve said ‘Next year, next year we got ‘em.’ This has got to be the year,” Gravelle said before her final AAA provincial volleyball championship with the Neelin Spartans.
The Spartans start their three-day run for the title as the No. 1 seed, along with Dauphin, Westgate and Linden Christian in the top power pool.
The three-match pool stage wraps up on Friday, with play-in games that evening and the rest of the playoffs on Saturday.
The first three matches can be an interesting cat-and-mouse game. Since odds are the four teams in Pool A form the final four, they might not want to show each other too much on day one and risk becoming predictable in the playoffs. Then again, winning has its benefits.
“We’ll still push to win because if we do finish fourth, we have to play the hardest team in quarters,” Gravelle said.
“We’ll still be going in to win our games, but know even if we don’t we can learn from those games and take that into the next ones.”
Gravelle emerged as a go-to attacker and moved to left side this season after playing right side in club earlier this year.
She spent the summer with her setter, Tyra Lasuik, on Team Manitoba and their chemistry has been big for the Spartans. Both were named to the Volleyball Manitoba graduating all-star team, so clearly the position change has paid dividends.
“They just needed me there and I don’t mind playing wherever,” Gravelle said. “It is nice because right side you don’t get much. It’s also nice because on defence I play in the middle so defence has been fun, too.”
Neelin’s lineup isn’t going to overpower many teams, but lacks glaring weaknesses. It’s solid all around, with players ready to step off the bench into important roles at any moment.
For now, they’re the team to beat in the AAA scene after snagging the top seed from the defending provincial champion Westgate Wings with a narrow victory in the Neelin Dig quarterfinals earlier this month.
“We know they’re probably going to be coming for us. They’re strong and we’re just as strong, so it’ll be a good game when we play them,” Gravelle said.
The Spartans are hungry for a better finish than last year when they bowed out in the quarterfinals after receiving a bye, but going 1-2 in the top power pool.
They know they’re three wins away from a title and will take their season to the last day possible. But for Gravelle, Lasuik, Maci Hlady, Claire Foerester and Emma Adema, that’s it for their time as Spartans indoor volleyball players.
Gravelle, Lasuik and Hlady have a beach provincial title to defend in the spring.)
“We’re all close friends, too, so it’s going to be sad when we’re not playing sports together anymore,” Gravelle said. “It’s sad, but it’s been really fun.”
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