Georges P. Vanier’s junior ‘A’ girls’ volleyball team has secured its 11th straight divisional championship. The team captured the gold medal in their divisional championship tournament held on Oct. 27 after bumping aside St. Andrew’s of High Prairie in two straight sets to take top honours. Their march to the top of the divisional ladder was anything but a walk in the park, however, as the girls struggled in their early round robin games against St.Andrew’s and Kinuso, eventually winning both matches. G.P. Vanier’s first match was against St. Andrew’s and saw the girls drop the first set 21-25 before rebounding for 26-24 and 15-13 wins in the second and third sets. From there the squad moved on to play Kinuso where they won the opening set 25-14 prior to falling 22-25 in the second set. That led to a tie-breaking set which saw the Donnelly club earn a 15-12 victory and their second straight match win of the tournament. The Vipers carried that momentum into their third and final round robin match where they knocked off Gift Lake in two straight sets by scores of 25-3 and 25-16 to secure a spot in the playoffs. The opening round featured a determined Vipers team taking on the Mistassiniy Mustangs from Wabasca-Desmarais in a match which brought about positive results in the form of back-to-back victories of 25-22 and 25-18. That set the stage for a rematch in the final between Vanier and St. Andrew’s where the junior girls won two straight sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-22 to lay claim to the divisional title. The junior ‘A’ boys side, meanwhile, finished the season on a strong note by taking second place at the divisional tournament, hosted at Vanier and Ecole Heritage in Falher. The team lost out to a strong Mistassiniy team in the final in what would be their only loss in the tournament. The strong effort was a carbon copy of the Vipers result at the Hillside Invitational in Valleyview Oct. 20, where they also placed second after bowing out in the final to T.A. Norris of Peace River. The school’s junior ‘B’ volleyball squads also had a busy season taking part in tournaments in Slave Lake, Valleyview, Spirit River, High Prairie, and Grande Prairie. Coaches, Gerald Kopp, Bob Owens, David Pedden and Monique Dubrule would like to thank all parents for their support and encouragement throughout the volleyball season in addition to extending a special thank-you to Joel Aubin, who helped coach the ‘B’ girls.