The Niverville Panthers are Provincial Junior Varsity Volleyball champions for the second year in a row.

The Panthers, who captured the “A/AA” title one year ago in Shilo, defeated the Linden Christian Wings 21-25, 25-19, 15-13 in a thoroughly entertaining “AAA” boys final Saturday at Landmark Collegiate.

Niverville trailed 8-4 in the deciding set but went on an eight-point run after the teams changed sides.

"We just said, it's one point at a time," remarked Panthers coach Carl Fast. "We've had a few matches like that where we've managed to come back. They never hang their heads and they've always played through it."

"It was so much fun," added Niverville setter Josh Limpright. "Those are the games you want to play. They're just the best."

The Panthers were perfect in the round robin as they beat R. D. Parker of Thompson, Neelin High School of Brandon, the John Taylor Pipers and Linden Christian.

Niverville swept Calvin Christian in the quarterfinals and then lost the first set of their semifinal with John Taylor before rallying to win the next two.

Keenan Doerksen and Nathan Rempel were named tournament All-Stars while Josh Limpright was selected the Most Valuable Player.

"It's exciting but the biggest thing is the team victory," said Limpright.

It was a hectic and unforgettable three days for the staff and students at Landmark Collegiate who put in a ton of work in order to host the Provincials.

"We were treated to some unbelievable volleyball," said Landmark physical education teacher Rob Giesbrecht who coordinated the provincials. "Even in the round robin matches, many of them were evenly played and well played. There were no weak teams so it was really good all around."