The Charles Hays Secondary School (CHSS) senior girls volleyball team rallied from two games down to tie their match 2-2 against Terrace’s Centenial Christian School (CCS) on Nov. 9 in Prince Rupert.
The Rainmakers were playing in their final tuneup game before the zones competition, and wanted to test themselves against quality competition in a best-of-five set format. CHSS fell behind early 15-25 and 17-25 but were able to shore up their defence winning the final two games 25-13 and 25-12. The teams did not play the match’s final game.
“It was crucial for our CHSS girls to get competitive game experience in before our zone championships in a week,” said team coach Melissa Chu. “The girls really pulled through during the last two sets and we were able to end the game on a strong note.”
Team captain Alexia Armstrong said when the team fell behind, they realized they had to pick up their energy and intensity level to match that of their opponent.
“As soon as we fell behind, we knew we had to get the energy back because we knew could come back,” she said.
Key to the Rainmakers’ victory was their improved passing in the third and fourth games, which led to opportunities to setup their improving offence. Armstrong said it was something the team has worked on to be prepared for some high powered offence.
“We’ve been practising it a lot lately, working on it non-stop in practice so we’re ready for zones next weekend because you can’t get a good hit without a pass,” she said.
Armstrong said the match gave her confidence in what the team can do in next week’s competition.
“We played a best-of-five game just like we will in zones and we found that we can come back after losing the first two,” she said. “We kept our spirits up and I think that’s really good for zones.”
