The Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs freshmen and junior girls volleyball teams had a tough end to their season last week.
The junior Elecs fell 2-1 to the Weyburn Comprehensive School (WCS) Eagles freshmen volleyball team in the South East District Athletic Association (SEDAA) intermediate championships final at ECS on Thursday. A similar fate befell the freshmen Elecs, which lost 2-0 to the Eagles in the SEDAA semifinals.
The freshmen Elecs opportunity to compete late into the SEDAA championships came through a big win over the Carlyle Cougars in the quarter-finals. The Elecs, which went 0-2 in round-robin play, found themselves in tough against the 1-1 Cougars losing 25-14 in the first set and going down 7-4 early in the second.
Despite the score, the girls kept battling eventually jumping ahead 14-13 on five straight points off Gemma Bittman’s serve. The Elecs and Cougars exchanged points over the rest of the match with Carlyle moving ahead 23-22 on a powerful Sheredin Slykhuis serve that the ECS squad could not return. Slykhuis’ next serve fell short allowing Trixie Elquira to spike the go-ahead point off a Desirae Shiels volley before Ally Park scored an ace to secure the 25-23 win.
The Elecs controlled the play in the third set roaring out to a 7-2 lead thanks to a transition point by Shiels followed by three more on her serve. The Cougars climbed to within a two-point deficit at 20-18, but could not regain the advantage losing the third set 25-22.
“Just momentum,” said freshmen Elecs coach Tammy Podovinnikoff on how they got the win. “It seemed to swing our way at the right time and then we kept it. It’s nice. When you lose the first set and win the second, it’s easier to win that third set.”
The Elecs fell behind the Eagles quickly in the semifinal with a number of serve-return errors proving costly. The home side also seemed unable to counter the Eagles attack in the second set losing the game 25-10, 25-5.
Like the freshman Eagles, the junior Elecs went undefeated leading up to the championships final compiling a 2-0 record in round-robin play before disposing of the WCS junior Eagles 25-12, 25-12 in the SEDAA semifinals. The first set between the two clubs was back and forth with WCS taking the first big lead at 14-9 halfway through on an inability of the ECS defence to return Blayke Walbaum’s serve.
The Elecs came back on Hannah Mantei’s serve where a couple of Julia Klatt spikes helped the Blue and Red get back to within one at 16-15. A strong setting game by Abby Hanson helped the Elecs pull ahead 19-18 on another Klatt kill, which they would not relinquish winning the first set 25-22.
“I don’t think we played that well in the first,” said Eagles coach Bryan Fleck. “We just made a few too many errors and we weren’t that aggressive, so the second set we wanted to make sure we hit at them and I think that turned the tide for us.”
ECS controlled the play early in the second set with a few Weyburn errors during Mackenzie Skuce’s serve helping the home side to a 6-2 lead. The Eagles replied on a strong serve by Jacey Rowland that, coupled with a powerful attack from the net by Chandler Dickie, put them ahead 10-6. The Elecs couldn’t seem to find their game after the WCS comeback losing 25-15.
Weyburn dominated play off the start in the third set jumping ahead 6-0 on Harmony Grainger’s serve. The Eagles didn’t look back during the remainder of the frame winning 25-12 to capture the 2016 SEDAA intermediate title.
“Volleyball is always such a mental game, so once they got in our heads a little bit we just had a hard time turning that around,” said junior Elecs coach Ceanna Lindquist, noting her team did show an improved movement from defence to offence in the championships despite the loss. “We’ve had trouble getting that whole transition from the pass to the set to the swing, so that finally came together for us today and it’s super exciting.”
