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JP II runner up in junior girls volleyball tournament

Oct 4, 2016 | 6:58 AM

Crusader Field wasn’t the only site for athletics on Saturday at John Paul II.

In addition to the soccer tournament held outside, the junior girls volleyball team was busy bumping, setting, and spiking the ball inside.

And they were quite successful, making the finals of the five-team tournament where they narrowly lost to Unity by a score of 27-25, 25-23.

“[We] got better and better as the tournament went on,” head coach Janet Benoit said. “Our team is over half grade eights so it’s a big learning curve from elementary to high school. I think they’re starting to understand that and … they’re adjusting and starting to really improve.”

JP II played Hafford following round robin play and defeated them in straight sets to advance to the finals.

In the end, the difference in the finals against Unity was consistency because the match had numerous lead changes.

“We attacked well, but we were kind of up and down,” Benoit said. “It was very, very close. We were up, and then we would lose a couple points. To keep on attacking is something we need to do better.”

Benoit did say the team’s serving impressed her.

“Our serving was our strength this weekend for sure,” she said.  “There are just some little key things that we need to work on so that we can improve.”

JP II will have an exhibition game against Unity the weekend of October 15, then another exhibition game the following week against Meadow Lake.

After that, it’s conference play, which as of now is being held in North Battleford on October 29. That date may be changed, however, because it’s the same day as soccer provincials. Eight teams compete in conference play, with the top three advancing to districts in early November.

The junior boys JP II volleyball also took part in the boys tournament on Saturday, where four teams battled it out. Unity also won on the boys side, defeating the Comp Vikings in the finals.

 

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.Kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11