It’s another step in the process toward progress for the Chemainus Secondary School senior girls volleyball team.
The Cougars hosted Shawnigan Lake School last Tuesday and showed some significant improvement from the previous weekend’s tournament at Gulf Islands despite losing in two straight sets.
“Our first set, we were there with them,” said Chemainus coach Kelsey Bell of the 25-16 result. “We played pretty well.”
But the girls couldn’t quite match that effort to even the score.
“The second set we just stopped communicating,” Bell indicated.
Shawnigan won that by a larger 25-12 margin.
The best-of-three was already decided, but the teams spent some extra time on the court since volleyball matches sometimes don’t take all that long to complete.
“Third set we played to 25 just to get some more practice in,” Bell said.
“I think the more we nail down our positioning, I think the more things will fall into place.”
Bell added some of the team’s players still seem a bit shellshocked, but she hopes they’ll become more confident with further practice.
Peri Pickle did a great job at libero under difficult circumstances. One Shawnigan server hit the ball hard, often right in her direction.
“Defensively, she was knocked back a few times,” Bell pointed out. “I was surprised how Peri stayed in there and didn’t give up.”
Pickle, a Grade 11 student, is back playing after a year off from the game. She previously played in Grades 8 and 9.
Justice Waller showed a great confidence at the net and setter Andrea Brooks’ serving was important to the team. Bell added Brooks was also “running all over the court to try and set up for us.”
The Cougars have another month of games leading up to the Island championships at Nanaimo Christian School.