After a medal winning season in 2024, the Carlton Crusaders Senior Boys Volleyball Team is looking for an upgrade in 2025.
The Crusaders defeated Regina's Winston Knoll Collegiate 2-1 (16-25, 25-23, 15-13) to win bronze in 2024. While provincials are still a month away, the squad has their sights set on getting back on the podium but this time with a gold or silver medal around their necks.
"That's our goal right now," head coach Matthew Lueck said.
"(We have to) just get better every day. We've already played a few of the top teams in the province and we're already seeing that we're right there with them. If we can just mange to get a just a little bit better every day, we have a phenomenal shot to do what we did last year, but even better."
The Crusaders opened the 2025 high school volleyball season with a fourth place finish at the St. Mary Marauders tournament in Prince Albert. The season continues on Friday and Saturday, when they host the Marauders and 10 other teams at the Crusader home tournament.
This weekend's showdown is a test run for a much more important tournament. Carlton will host the 5A Boys Northern Rural Regional Tournament, with the top three finishers qualifying for provincials.
Carlton setter Damien Court said the squad looks forward to hosting the regional tournament.
"Not extra pressure, (it's) more excitement," Court said. "Having home crowd and home gym is always an advantage. We've got a good, strong crowd here, so it's always good to be home."
As a Grade 12 student, Court is entering his final year of high school volleyball. He said the Crusaders are a veteran squad with a good chance of returning to provincials, but need to put in the work to get there.
"We've definitely got to work on our serve and our pass, but I think other parts of our game are really strong," he said. "We can really dominate teams in the province with the other aspects of our game."
Lueck helped coach the team that won bronze in 2024. Last year he split coaching duties, while also coaching volleyball in Birch Hills.
This year, Lueck is Carlton's full-time bench boss. So far, he said the experience has been a positive one.
"It's a little bit more competitive and the talent pool is definitely a lot bigger," he said. "(There are) definitely some more things to manage, but so far it's been fun."
The Crusaders open their home tournament at noon on Friday against Warman. That's followed by games at 3 p.m. against Yorkton and 6 p.m. against Clavet.
Northern Regionals for 5A Boys Volleyball will be held on Nov. 8 at Carlton. St. Mary High School in Prince Albert will host provincials on Nov. 14-15.