By Nathan Kanter

Vikings Grade 9 junior girls win fourth straight gold medal

Oct 2, 2017 | 2:00 PM

There has been a pattern to the beginning of the season for the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings Grade 9 girls volleyball team.

So far, all they’ve done is get to the finals, and win, again and again.

It started with a gold medal win over the John Paul II Crusaders at the Crusaders home tournament four weekends ago. Then, two more gold medals at tournaments in Lloydminster two weekends in a row, including one where 16 teams competed. This past weekend, they made it four in a row with a gold on home turf over Prince Albert Carlton.

“Overall it’s been a really awesome season and the girls are playing at a really high level,” Vikings head coach Bryan Cottini said on Monday morning. “They have fairly strong team chemistry. We did get a couple new girls that are fitting in nicely [but] I had a strong suspicion going into the season that we would be pretty strong.”

Cottini had that suspicion because he coached last year’s Grade 8 team and all of those players are now back to play on the Grade 9 junior team.

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He said it’s a fairly different game going from Grade 8 girls to Grade 9 girls.

“A lot of it has to do with strength,” Cottini said. “When they were in Grade 7, they’re just barely struggling to get their serves over the net and then Grade 8s, a little better. But now, you’re working with kids that are just about at the senior level, so the strength is becoming a big part of what they’re doing.”

That strength has translated into a dominant attacking game.

But a strong offensive game isn’t complete without a good setter. Lucky for the Vikings, they have one.

“Our setter is playing at a very high level and we have some really strong hitters, so the other team can’t key in on one person to block,” Cottini said. “[That] means all of our hitters are basically having single blocking and our hitters are doing a really good job with that.”

The defensive side of things is still a work in progress, according to Cottini, but there’s still a month until districts, which are Nov. 2.

Between now and then, the Vikings will play tournaments in Prince Albert and Meadow Lake in preparation for the playoffs.

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11

by Nathan Kanter

Vikings Grade 9 junior girls win fourth straight gold medal

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