From October 3 to 5, the first annual Lloyd Voth Invitational Tournament was hosted here at St. Paul’s for Varsity and Junior Varsity volleyball. Teams from across the city competed against each other to be crowned a champion.

Lloyd Voth founded the volleyball club at St Paul’s, leading to its lasting success at the school, teaching at the school for over 40 years, and coaching for over 30.

Our Crusader Varsity Volleyball team emerged victorious. Their first two games of pool play against the Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens and the Selkirk Royals were a struggle for the Crusaders with each set decided within a few points. Undeterred, the team carried on and managed to win their pool. They then faced the Mennonite Brotherhood Collegiate Institute Hawks, fighting for the first seat in the playoffs. This game would be their first and only loss in the tournament.

With the first day of games finished, the teams had one day of practice before the playoffs. Saturday arrived and the Crusaders faced against the third seed Steinbach Sabres, fourth in the province at the time. The Crusaders played valiantly, deploying many of the skills they worked on in practice. As a result, they beat the Sabres 2-0. Off to the finals, the Varsity team faced a familiar rival in the Selkirk Royals, having barely beaten them two days before. This did not deter the Crusaders as they performed tremendously, taking both sets with a massive margin. The Varsity team claimed their first tournament title of the year and more importantly won the first ever Lloyd Voth Invitational! Sam Di Cresce ’25 won the tournament MVP after a great performance in the semi-finals and finals. This tournament marks a key milestone in the Varsity Volleyball team’s journey to a provincial title run.