A five set home victory over the Gladmar Falcons on Thursday proved a demonstration of how far the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs freshmen girls volleyball team has come this season.
Lauren Pottie, head coach of the Elecs, said the team has faced a number of challenges this year against tough competition, but a focus on developing their skills seems to be showing itself. She said the freshmen club features girls with varying levels of experience, so the coaching staff has been working on getting the seven-player squad to understand the basics of the game while coming together as a team.
“As soon as school starts we hold tryouts...and we start practices right after that,” said Pottie. “We had a tournament (at Weyburn Junior High and St. Michael's) that first weekend. That was a rough introduction to the team that weekend, but we've definitely improved all the way along since then.”
The Elecs started slowly against the Falcons falling behind 17-13 in the first set, but managed to come back on the strong serving skills of Caitlyn Green who brought the score to 22-18 in their favour. Reese Handley finished off the game on her serve to give the Elecs a 25-19 win. The Elecs led the whole way in the second set, but the Falcons kept it close eventually bringing the score to 15-14. The Elecs' Meghan Wright controlled the play from that point on and Estevan took the win 25-18.
After rotating in their older players, the Falcons secured the third and fourth sets winning 25-18 and 25-21 to set up the winner-takes all fifth game. The Elecs came out firing going up 4-1 quickly before Gladmar pulled the game to 6-5 on their serve. Undaunted, Estevan jumped ahead again bringing the score to 11-5 thanks to strong mid-court and net play by Olivia Hong, Alaura Florizone and Jordyn Meshke before winning the match with a 15-9 score.
Laura Hoimyr, head coach of the Falcons, said the game was a good test for both clubs. She said her team has enjoyed an even season of wins and losses and scrimmages like this are a good way to help the girls learn to play together as a team.
“It's experience for the girls,” said Hoimyr. “We have Grade 6 to Grade 9 girls, so we have quite an age range. I thought they played well.”
Pottie said this work in scrimmages, tournaments and practices is to get the Elecs prepared for Nov. 12 when Estevan host the District Championships. Estevan will play in a pool with Alameda and Caryle at districts while teams from Oxbow, Lampman and Radville will comprise the second pool.
“We think we're going to do very well,” said Pottie. “We have a few practices to get in before then. We're still going to work on our basics and our rotation, but I think we have a good chance at districts.”
