MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Peacock Toilers opened their high school girls volleyball season with a near-perfect start this past weekend in Regina.
And with the Moose Jaw league kicking into gear this week, it could be a sign of positive things ahead for the local crew.
The Toilers put together a second-place finish at the Hank Lorensen Senior Girls High School Tournament at the University of Regina, falling to the Balgonie Greenall Griffins in the gold medal game.
The loss was the only on the weekend through six games for Peacock, and they also were the only team to take a set off Balgonie as the Griffins went undefeated through to the title.
The Moose Jaw High School Athletic Association senior girls league features a total of seven teams this season, with the first slate of games taking place on Tuesday night.
The Toilers followed up on their tournament win with a four-set 25-7, 23-25, 25-9, 25-14 victory over the Central Cyclones, while the Cornerstone Christian School Falcons won 3-0 over the Notre Dame Hounds in Notre Dame. No score was reported from the game between Briercrest Christian Academy and the Rouleau Rebels.
The Vanier Spirits had the opening week bye and are the defending city champions, having also won bronze at the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association 4A girls provincial championship in Moose Jaw last fall.
The girls' main regular season runs through Oct. 15 before a modified tier schedule will begin -- the top four teams will play in Tier I and bottom three in Tier II, with teams then playing a three-game round robin where no Tier I team can fall lower than fourth place in the standings.
The playoffs begin with the quarter-finals on Nov. 5, semifinals on Nov. 7 and city final tentatively on Nov. 12 at Sask Polytech.
The boys' schedule will feature a five-team league beginning on Sept. 17 with the Cornerstone Christian School Falcons at Peacock and Central at Vanier, with both games starting at 6:20 p.m. Briercrest Academy has the opening week bye and play their first league game on Sept. 19 at Peacock.
Central is the defending champion in addition to finishing fourth at the 4A boys provincial championship last season. The Cornerstone Christian School Falcons also had a successful provincial playoff run, finishing fourth in the 2A boys division.
The boys volleyball schedule is more conventional, with the regular season running through Oct. 29 followed by the quarterfinals on Nov. 5, semifinals on Nov. 7 and city final tentatively on Nov. 13 at Sask Polytech.
