A new month equals a new season of sports for local high schools, including girls volleyball which started at Elmira District Secondary School this week.
Both junior and senior teams played at home on Tuesday facing Grand River Collegiate Institute. The seniors won, while the juniors lost.
The senior team saw most of its players graduate, leaving only one returning player, Nicole Cressman.
But coach Melanie Austin says they’ve got a strong group of girls from last year’s junior team joining them.
“I’m excited about it. They have quite a bit of experience. A few of them play outside of school. It’s kind of exciting,” Austin said.
They played an exhibition game against Listowel last week and were preparing for their first game by practicing positioning, serving and passing. She said once they see how those skills transfer into a game setting they’ll determine what needs work.
She says if they could finish in the top half of the league with the majority of the team being Grade 11s, that would be a great accomplishment. Some of the girls play club volleyball, which is a bonus for the team.
“It definitely helps when they’re touching the ball year round instead of just two or three months a year. They learn a lot of skills,” Austin said.
Chatting before the game against GRCI on Tuesday, Austin was optimistic.
“I have high hopes. I honestly think we could pull a win off of them,” Austin said.
Junior girls volleyball coach Alex Derma is starting fresh this year with nearly a full team of Grade 9s, as most of last year’s team moved up to the senior level.
“I think we’ve got eight Grade 9s this time, but they come with experience which is nice, so it’s always helpful. We’ve got a team that’s going to be good, but it’s going to take a little bit of time to work together as a team,” Derma said.
Having three club players on the team means they’ve got players with a good understanding of the game and lots of time on the court.
“This year we’ll be building for top level competition next year I think,” Derma said.
They played an exhibition game against Listowel last week and beat them two games to one.
He says they play one game at a time, but they’re always striving to make playoffs. From there it’s just to play their best volleyball and compete in every game.
“Our goal as coaches is to not have a ball hit the floor. So as long as we have that in mind then we should be competing in every game,” Derma said.
Prior to facing Grand River on Tuesday, Derma said it would be a tough game for the girls, as they’re traditionally a powerhouse. He said he expected them to put in their best effort and improve from last week’s game.
“The first week we’re just trying to get our systems in so we’re ready to go. And then we’ve talked about what our weaknesses are individually with each girl so they know what they have to work on for the year. The goal is to not have those weaknesses by the end of the year. As long as each week we’re improving on those then we should be getting better as a team.”
The junior squad competed in the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship last year after finishing fifth in Waterloo Region.
Both teams play at home again today (Dec. 3) versus Southwood Secondary School at 3:15 p.m.
