High-level head-to-head caps off junior volleyball seasons

“Heading into the final, we had lots of confidence,” Crusaders junior girls coach Vic Stynsky said. “The girls had played well all year. We knew it was going to be a battle.”

For the Vikings, the path to the final may have seemed easy on paper, but they actually had some struggles.

“We had a heck of a time with Unity,” Vikings coach Bryan Cottini said. “They took us to three sets as well. Macklin was a good team. They gave us all kinds of fits as too. It wasn’t an easy ride [to the final] at all.”

In the end, it was the Vikings who kept their perfect season intact, winning the deciding set 15-12.

“It was pretty exciting,” Cottini said. “Our junior team last year probably had that same tournament record but I think they lost a game somewhere along the way and we didn’t lose a game all season. I think that’s almost unheard of.”

There were two specific areas Cottini highlighted which allowed the Vikings to be such a strong team this season.

“First of all, the strength right from day one was our offence,” he said. “We had a very good setter and our hitters were unreal. Number two, it didn’t really start out like this, but actually, our defence improved the whole year.”

Stynsky said fans had approached the teams, saying it was some of the best junior girls volleyball they had witnessed in years.

That meant a lot.

“The girls were really proud of that,” Stynsky said. “It couldn’t have got much closer than it did. Unfortunately, we come out on the short end of the score.”

Not only did the junior volleyball teams from the Comp and JP meet on the girl’s side, but also on the boy’s.

This time, it was during the third-place game, where the Crusaders came out on top to win bronze. The game was tight as well, although JP won in straight sets after taking the first 25-23.

Crusaders junior boys coach Dee-Jaye Hesselberg said it was nice to see her team recover after a round robin loss to Unity and a semifinal fall to Wilkie.

“The team just came together as a whole,” Hesselberg said. “Lots of them at the junior level are very mental. For them to lose a game like that, it really gets them down on themselves, so to be able to bring themselves out of that and still turn it around and take the win at the end was pretty awesome.”

She added how winning bronze is a nice accomplishment and represents all the hard work the players put in over the course of the season.

“They put in lots of time in practices and games and lots of travel [so] it’s nice to have them get recognized that way,” she said. “It creates a sense of comradery for the school.”

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11

by Nathan Kanter

High-level head-to-head caps off junior volleyball seasons

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