The Quesnel Junior School Grade 8 girls’ volleyball team have spiked fear into the hearts of their Prince George foes at the last three play day tourneys.
Their most recent foray up Highway 97 resulted in a 4-0 finish at the Kelly Road Extravaganza Play Day on Oct 19.
Heading into the Zone Championships in Prince George this weekend (Nov. 22-23), the team is looking strong.
“The little skills we have been working on came into play that weekend,” says head coach Archie Singh Sull. “It was a slow start, but once the kids warmed up after a few matches, the squad began connecting.
“We have a group of kids that work hard for each other, which has resulted in great success.”
The team’s first match was against Prince George Secondary School (PGSS), and it went the whole three sets.
“We had momentum but were caught in rotation where we struggled to pass the ball to the front,” Sull says. “When we did connect, PGSS couldn’t return the ball back to us.”
QJS ended up winning the opener 25-20, 18-25, 15-10 before facing off against College Heights.
“They were a great test, and the game had the crowd in awe as both teams found momentum and executed spikes and digs,” Sull says. “Parents from College Heights complimented QJS for their resiliency and sportsmanship.”
The first set saw QJS pick apart their foe’s defence, winning 25-18, while the second set was the reverse, as College Heights adjusted and caught QJS in a mismatch rotation.
“We couldn’t get the ball under control and lost eight straight points,” says Sull.
The Quesnel girls lost the set 18-25.
Sull says the final set had all the drama and excitement that volleyball could offer.
“College Heights maintained their momentum but couldn’t finish our girls. With College Heights up 24-16 and needing one point to solidify victory, the Quesnel girls found their magic in Madison Johnston, who served the game back to 24-24.
“To see that at a Grade 8 level is remarkable and pretty much unheard of,” Sull adds.
The stand got the juices flowing for QJS, who were able to finish off their opponents 28-26 to take the game.
QJS played DP Todd, who Sull says is an up-and-coming team that may be the surprise of the Zones, in their third game.
“The DP Todd group is developing their bump-set-and-spike, and it is beginning to show as they are becoming competitive,” he says, but QJS was too much for them on the day, emerging victorious by scores of 25-18, 25-20, 15-11.
The highlight of the match came courtesy of Andie Borrett, who had a huge spike to rally the Quesnel team.
Last up was Williams Lake.
“It was a long day of volleyball, and the squad had to dig deep versus a tired Williams Lake squad,” Sull says. “Jaden Sull served nine jump float serves before ending her streak in the second set, helping QJS finish Williams Lake 25-10, 25-13, 25-9.”
READ MORE: Quesnel Grade 8 girls bump, set and spike in Prince George
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