With three gold medals and a silver medal showing through their four tournaments this season, the JPII junior girls Crusaders volleyball team are on a roll heading into districts this week. (Submitted photo/Doug Sieben)

By Martin Martinson

Rolling right along

JPII junior volleyball teams on fire heading to districts

Oct 26, 2019 | 8:00 AM

After claiming dual silver medals last weekend, the John Paul II Collegiate junior boys and junior girls volleyball teams will head out on the road their separate ways for districts Tuesday.

The junior boys will travel to Meadstead, while the junior girls’ team will play in Unity. Each enter as contenders to make some noise and punch their ticket to the provincial ranks with a top-two finish.

Both teams have won three gold medals and a silver medal through four tournaments this season.

Head coach of the junior girls, Doug Sieben, said the team’s success has come through a mix of good athleticism and a strong mental fortitude.

“Their attitudes have been phenomenal,” he said. “They are just positive girls who work really well together and support each other. They are [also] just strong athletes. Some of them are veteran athletes, while others are rookies to the team, and they are all combining to play some really nice volleyball at the junior level.”

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The junior boys Cursaders have been a force this season, picking up three golds and a silver through four tournaments this year. The team will take their hot play into districts with a chance to punch their ticket on to provincials. (submitted photo/Shelly Fransoo)

Assistant coach with the junior boys, Shelly Fransoo said the boys have shown great growth in their mental approach to the game this season, to go with a level of talent that should have the team feeling confident in their abilities heading into districts play.

“I would say as a whole the team is pretty solid at this point in the year,” Fransoo said. “Throughout the season to now we have really seen an increase in their skill level [and] their volleyball IQ has really increased over the last two months. It was really nice to see that all come together this past weekend at our home tournament.”

While the victories themselves are certainly something to celebrate, Fransoo said perhaps the best part of the season has been watching the students grow as players and people both on and off the court.

“It validates why you do what you do,” Fransoo said. “Every coach wants to see their athletes grow, both physically and in maturity. It just really validates why teachers put in this extra time for extra-curricular activities when you have such a great group of kids to work with.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1