The road to success has a beginning, but exactly what that beginning is often varies.
One frequent thread, however, is faith.
The St. Thomas More Knights senior girls volleyball team brings that and more to the court, as the 2018 season hits its second week of action.
Fresh off last weekend’s UBC-Mizuno high school girls volleyball tournament, the squad is eager to apply each lesson with an eye to returning to the provincials this November.
Last year’s B.C. silver medalists, STM didn’t finish in the winner’s bracket at the Point Grey campus but exited with plenty of motivation and upbeat moments.
“We ended up finishing 19th or 20th, which isn’t that great, but we definitely built up our team,” remarked senior Lauren Boddington. “We’ve been practising hard and it showed we trusted each other on the court. I think our next games we’ll play very well.”
Forget the record – which first saw them in a pool with Quad-A No. 5 Handsworth, Burnaby perennial powerhouse Moscrop, and Delta. Their first win was 2-0 over Delta, and, while they lost the other two, both were by just two points.
Pushing Quad-A Moscrop to 2-1, and falling by a 16-14 score in the final set, was a character moment, remarked Knights co-coach Cassie Lauang.
“It showed the girls that they’re capable of challenging these teams who are ranked a little bit higher than them,” said Lauang,
who shares the coaching duties with Danielle Paloposki. “(Moscrop) had a really good offence that gave our defence a little trouble, but we learned and were able to adjust and give them a run for their money in the third. That was a really good turning point for us and gave them a lot of confidence defensively.”
On the second day, STM began with back-to-back victories over North Delta and Elphinstone before Lord Byng ended their run.
All in all, the team garnered a good experience in just 48 hours.
“It was a high level of volleyball especially with the young group of players on our team, as we only have four seniors,” noted Boddington, who plays outside hitter and setter. “We all saw a lot of potential in our team and think we’ll do well this year.
“I think we needed those games to push ourselves and learn how to play as a team.”
As part of the Lower Mainland Independent league, STM has already chalked up a couple of lessons against top-ranked rivals. Triple-A’s No. 1-rated team, Crofton House, handed them a season-opening 3-0 loss just 12 days ago, but the Knights rebounded to edge Double-A’s No. 1 team York House 3-2 a few days later.
With a roster steeped in Grade 11s (six) and Grade 10s (three), a lot of responsibility falls on the shoulders of Boddington and fellow Grade 12s Mia Malinowski, Sienna Mastromonaco and Francesca Sandini. But the outside hitter/setter is confident in the process and her team.
“I think it’s a really good responsibility, especially as a senior and a leader, to show the younger kids on our team that it’s a responsibility to pass on. All of us can definitely learn something from our Grade 10s and 11s,” Boddington added.
“They definitely showed a lot of leadership during the tournament. It wasn’t just the seniors leading.”
