Vikings look to bounce defending champs

Nikos Tellidis wouldn’t want his last high school volleyball tournament to start any other way.

His No. 10-seed Vincent Massey Vikings get to face the defending AAAA varsity boys volleyball provincial champion River East Kodiaks on home court today at 1 p.m., in the first round of provincials.

“It’s awesome to have that energy, it really helps,” Tellidis said.

“Every year we’ve beat Neelin at Viking Classic; we’ve had trouble with them up until that point. It definitely gives us the motivation we need, and we all feel we jump a little higher when there’s a full gym.”

Of course, it’s a much different River East lineup compared to last year’s team, which went undefeated en route to the crown.

While the big names are gone, Tellidis said the Kodiaks are still tough to handle. He only played five points when they met earlier this season before exiting with a knee injury, but the six-foot-six middle blocker learned a lot from the sideline.

“They’re really good. They put the ball in play a lot, they don’t make a lot of mistakes,” Tellidis said.

“They obviously have experience from last year and they have that momentum coming into the season and coming into provincials. I think we have a good shot against them, especially in front of our home crowd.”

Tellidis has a strong Grade 12 corps around him, including lefty Griffin Zilkey, who has moved to outside hitter to make way for Logan Van Santen at opposite.

Head coach Rylan Metcalf knew he needed big contributions from his Grade 11s, and worked through a few different lineups before going with the most recent starting lineup of Everett Baraniuk as the second outside hitter and Charlie Gauthier in the other middle spot.

Ashton Penner has lined up at libero, with sophomore phenom Sam Redekop running the offence.

Tellidis said the younger guys may have been nervous earlier in the year, but have looked comfortable lately.

They finished ninth at the Brandon University tournament in September, then lost just one match — to the No. 1-ranked St. Paul’s Crusaders — at the Daniel McIntyre tournament, where only the top team in each of the eight pools reached the playoffs.

Massey finished fifth at the St. Paul’s tourney in early October, third at the Viking Classic, and fifth at the Mennonite Brethren tournament.

While the Vikings were ousted early at the St. Vital Invitational, they bounced back with some of their best matches in city playoffs, knocking off the top-ranked Neelin Spartans 2-0 in the best-of-three final series.

Metcalf said the team has found its groove since everyone has settled into their roles.

“Not everybody can be the superstar on a team, and guys on the floor have really accepted their roles,” Metcalf said. “Guys on the bench, whether it’s coming in to serve, coming in to be a defensive sub, guys have really bought into the system that we have and it’s awesome to see.

“Nikos Tellidis in the middle and Logan Van Santen have been our go-to guys when we’re needing points, and the other guys are fantastic at what they need to do.”

If the Vikings win, they’ll face the No. 2-seed Steinbach Sabres on Saturday at home at 2 p.m.

In today’s other matches, the Sisler Spartans play Winnipeg’s Vincent Massey Trojans at 3 p.m., followed by the MBCI Hawks and Lord Selkirk Royals at 5 o’clock and the Miles Macdonell Buckeyes and Glenlawn Lions at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, at Neelin, the AAAA girls’ regionals open with Murdoch MacKay facing St. Mary’s at 1 p.m., then Kelvin and Massey (Winnipeg) at 3 p.m., Miles Mac and Westwood at 5 o’clock and Garden City and Steinbach at 7 p.m.

The No. 2-ranked Vikings await the winner of the Kelvin-Massey match and will play at home on Saturday at 10 a.m.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5