The Estevan Comprehensive School senior girls' volleyball team got their season underway last weekend, winning the 16-team Carlyle Mega-Volley tournament.
Head coach, Becky Tait said her team went into the tournament hoping to finish in the top three, and was able to come out on top, defeating Rocanville, a three-time champion, in the final.
The win was extra special for the Elecs, as the senior girls had previously never won the Mega-volley. Tait said she expects to have a good year based on the talent that attended the team's tryouts.
"We had 28 girls come to try-out and we had to cut it down to 12 players, and in the eight seasons I've coached, I've never had such difficult cuts. It was such a strong group of girls that came out," she said.
The goal this season is to make the provincials and to do so the Elecs will have to beat out both Moose Jaw and Weyburn at the regionals, something Tait said will take a lot of hard work but something they should be able to accomplish.
The girls play every weekend with the exception of Thanksgiving, and Tait said with such a strong team, starting jobs will be on the line all the way to the provincials.
"I think everybody is going to be fighting for their position the entire season, which is a coach's dream. Our bench is very deep and I can put anyone on the court at anytime if somebody's struggling," Tait said.
The team consists of three Grade 10 players along with nine Grade 11 and 12s, and according to Tait they have depth at every position. They have two excellent setters, three great power hitters and a third year libero who adds experience and excellent defensive skills to the mix.
"This is probably the strongest senior girls' volleyball team that the Estevan Comp. has seen in a lot of years, simply because there is a stronger building program in Estevan right now, which brings stronger girls up from the elementary level right up to Grade 12," said Tait.
The Elecs, who play every Friday and Saturday, will look to continue their success this weekend at a tournament in Oxbow.
