Ballenas volleyball players Kylie Smith, left, and Mackenzie Hudson attempt to block a shot during their junior match against Dover Bay at Ballenas Wednesday afternoon. — Image credit: J.R. Rardon/PQB NEWS
The Ballenas Whalers junior girls volleyball team earned a split in one of its matches while falling 2-0 to visiting Dover Bay in the other in secondary school play at Ballenas on
Wednesday.
The school’s junior program carries 22 players, co-coach Robin Elliott said, and as a result has been split into two teams.
“We actually had 36 players try out,” said Elliott. “You don’t want to discourage them or have them leave, so we decided to keep two teams.”
Dover Bay also came into the match with enough players to field two teams, so the afternoon consisted of a series of games between the schools played on side-by-side nets in the Ballenas gymnasium.
The Ballenas ‘A’ team, made up primarily of Grade 10 players, fell 25-23, 25-23 in a pair of close-fought games against the Dolphins’ ‘A’ squad.
Ballenas ‘A’ then outlasted Dover Bay ‘B’ 31-29 before dropping a 14-25 decision in the second game.
The Ballenas ‘B’ team, made up entirely of Grade 9 players, went winless in its four games against the two Dolphins teams.
The next home match for the Ballenas junior girls will be their rivalry showdown with Kwalikum Secondary, Wednesday, Oct. 26.
— NEWS Staff