It was a busy — and successful — weekend for members of the Smithers and Hazelton Secondary Schools as they participated in a variety of sporting activities as the fall season keeps rolling on.
Leading the pack was the junior girls volleyball squad as they took on all comers in a competition in Prince George. Coach Darlene Ness said that she was very happy with the performance of her charges as they won all five matches they had in the 12-team tournament. As a result they were named overall winners.
“It’s great when you see a team come together like the girls did this weekend. We only had nine players on the bench because some of the team was sick but that did not seem to matter. They were able to overcome difficulties they ran into and still perform at a great level,” she said.
On the senior girls volleyball side, coach Marina Muir was encouraged by the way her squad performed at a play day hosted by Bulkley Valley Christian School. Teams form around the Northwest zone were in attendance and while no winner was declared, Muir noted that Smithers Secondary won all three of the matches that it played. It was the best tournament they’ve played all year.
“I’ve never seen them play so well,” she said.
The team is now in preparation for the zone championships that are coming up soon.
Muir felt that the team’s serving was probably the best aspect of the team’s play.
“There was one girl who made 13 points in a row and then the next girl made seven in a row. We ended up winning that game 25-6 against Hazelton,” she said. “I’ve always felt that having a strong serve is very important for the girl’s volleyball game. If you can get a lot of points off the serve, it sets you up really well for the rest of your game.”
In the boys soccer zone championships in Prince Rupert, coach Bill Holdyk was pleased with the way the team performed despite a difficult draw that meant the team had to play almost upon arrival.
“We have a young team with our oldest being in Grade 11 and lots of kids in Grades 8 and 9. We had to play Hazelton as soon as we arrived,” he said.
Despite a big effort, Smithers dropped a 5-1 decision to the eventual zone champions. Immediately after the first game, Smithers had to play their next match against Kitimat and despite no break, went on to win a 4-3 decision. In the end, Smithers had to settle for a third place overall finish.
Holdyk is looking forward to next season as the team had no senior class students and all should be returning next fall.