After some disappointing results in Guelph on February 5, the SDSS Royals Senior Girls’ Volleyball team saw the reward of perseverance and hard work in their second tournament of the weekend.

The team travelled to Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute in Guelph on Friday to compete in an eight team tournament. Although the team played extremely well the results did not show in the win column.

Losing to St. Benedict Preston High School and Centennial during round robin play placed the Royals in 4th and playing the number 1 team from the other pool. St. Mary’s, Kitchener had played very well all day and the local Royals played a tough match pushing the undefeated opponent to play their best match of the day. Scores were 21-25 and 22-25.

The Saugeen girls had little time to rest as they prepared to compete in their second tournament of the weekend in Goderich. With only eight players and a minimum of 10 more games the team needed to take care of business efficiently.

They easily won their first two matches against North Middlesex with scores of 25-7 and 25-18; and Listowel with scores of 25-17 and 25-20; but stumbled against the Kincardine Knights losing both games.

“I thought maybe the girls were hitting the wall as their play looked slow and they played with heavy legs,” said Coach Tim Smith. “They were missing serves and passes that were easily playable.”

Following this loss the team dropped two players as Mallory Earnshaw injured her thumb and Brie Becker departed for a hockey commitment. Kelly Robertson and Audrey Turcotte were thrust into the starting line-up for the remainder of the day.

With four games to be played in round robin, sitting in 2nd place and no subs on the bench, the girls played inspired volleyball defeating Madill with scores of 25-20 and 25-15 and St. Anne’s with scores of 25-21 and 25-23. Combined with Kincardine losing to Listowel, the Royals’ wins gave the girls the number one position in pool A.

Resting as much as possible between matches the girls prepared for their best of three semi final against Rockway of Kitchener. After starting slowly the girls settled down and won two games straight with some unconventional but scrambled play.

The finals would be played with no break or rest for either of the teams and game one of the final went to the Royals and game two to East Elgin.

After two days and 22 games the Royals had to win one more game for victory. Playing determined volleyball the team jumped out to an 8-3 lead that would eventually increase to 11-6.

Needing just 15 points to win, the opponent would not fall easily, but a victory was there for the taking and the Royals pounced winning 15-11.

During this great run, Kyra Smith discovered a consistent strong serve that pressured opponents to cough up free balls to the Royals. Grace Alvarez had a strong day attacking and hustling to play a great number of balls. Hanna Lynch stepped in to play on the right side, a position she had not played all season and the team never missed a step. Turcotte and Robertson filled in for the final nine games and each contributed significantly to the victory. Captain, Emily Ernst played every single game in the two day tournament, 23 in total, and got better with each match. Terrific hustle on defense and much improved setting allowed the hitters to attack opponents.

The Senior Saugeen team will travel to Sacred Heart in Walkerton on Thursday to begin their playoff push. The south Bluewater Athletic Association (BAA) 1/4 final match will be a best of five contest against Kincardine District Secondary School. The winner of this match will advance to the BAA finals in Owen Sound (OSCVI) on Wednesday, February 15.