WEYBURN — The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs senior volleyball teams went to Weyburn and came home with a 6-0 lead in the annual Co-op Challenge volleyball games against the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles.
The senior girls opened the annual series by defeating Weyburn 3-0 (25-22, 25-13 and 25-17) in their match. The senior boys also won 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-15).
The Co-op Challenge is an annual showdown pitting the senior boys and girls volleyball teams from the two schools. The school that records the most set victories during four matches is the series victor. Estevan needs to win just one more set in the two matches back in Estevan to retain the challenge trophy.
Estevan also has a 150-105 edge in total points after the two matches.
Senior girls’ head coach Hunter Perkins said the Elecs shook off some nerves from the first set and played really well.
“Overall, we have been focusing a lot on our serve and serve-receive recently, and we did a good job of passing and putting some pressure on Weyburn with tough serves,” said Perkins.
A lot of ECS supporters came out to back the team, and he described the crowd in Weyburn as “awesome”.
He noted Olivia Semenuik and Charlotte Waldegger were the leaders in kills.
Senior boys’ head coach Bryton Such added they did a good job of maintaining consistent service pressure throughout the whole match. They used three different lineups throughout the match.
“Considering all the moving pieces, we were able to stay aggressive and put Weyburn under a lot of pressure with our serve and block defence,” said Such.
The Eagles did a good job of being creative with their scoring, he said, and making the Elecs earn every point. For Game 2, ECS will have to continue to work on their serve reception, and focus on trusting and working within their system.
“These matches and environments are filled with adrenaline, which can sometimes cause our bodies to work too hard or get a little greedy wanting a big highlight-reel play.”
He was also pleased with the crowd, as fans cheered for both sides throughout the match.
“I always look forward to participating in these types of ‘rivalry’ matches that have that extra little bit of meaning. It was loud, proud and energetic. I am very excited to see the turnout for our home match in the series.”
Aidan Turner led the Elecs with 14 kills. Bennett Walliser had five service aces and Keith Daae contributed six blocks.
The senior boys’ game will be at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 22 and the senior girls teams will meet at 7:30 p.m.
