The third annual Co-Op Challenge was won by the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs senior volleyball teams Monday, but late in the first set of the final boys match at the ECS gym it almost fell apart.
The boys were down 21-16 to a Weyburn Eagles team growing in confidence with every shot when head coach Nathan Johnson used a timely timeout to rest the focus for the Elecs. After a side-out, Leighton Mus served up eight straight points and the Elecs dominated the rest of the matches, giving ECS the title in their head to head match with Weyburn.
The atmosphere was nearly McLeod Series-like in its intensity, particularly in the boys game.
“We didn’t prepare very well because that start wasn’t what we wanted,” said Johnson. “Being down 21-16, they were serving us tough and putting us in trouble and we didn’t react very well.”
The Elecs boys won their games 25-21, 25-14, 25-18 and the Weyburn girls won their sets 25-21, 25-18, 25-18.
“It feels amazing, especially since it’s our senior year and we have a team full of Grade 12s and one Grade 11,” said Mus. “To win this, we’ve got to carry our momentum into the following week.”
The ECS senior boys swept Weyburn in both matches and the senior girls from Weyburn swept the senior girls from ECS. The series came down to points earned in their losses and the ECS girls got more in their losses than the Weyburn boys – 98 to 97.
“It was absolutely crucial that we came back and won that last set,” said Johnson. “I think that got the ball rolling at that point.”
Mus is one of several servers that can get momentum going for the Elecs, as was shown Monday.
“This team has been in the making for four years now,” said Mus. “Mr. Johnson has put in many hours to try to build this team. At our practices he’s always focused and always wants us to do our best. To have this … in our senior year is just great.”
ECS senior girls head coach Nicole Rogalski was happy with the way the Elecs girls played well despite not having a lot of experience.
“We didn’t win any of our sets but I couldn’t have asked for… them to play any better,” Rogalski said. “Weyburn is a really tough team and they’re just better than us, which isn’t a bad thing. They give us good competition and we came out strong and finished strong. I’m very happy with how they played.”
The Elecs girls won the tournament they entered in Yorkton last weekend, defeating Melfort in the final.
“They’re pretty tough,” said Rogalski. “They’ve got a lot of tall girls and big swingers. But our girls came out with their serves, pushing them forward and pushing them back like we worked on in practice, and their coverage. They were up getting at least their hand on it, and they were there helping out with coverage.”
Johnson, also a vice principal at ECS, was also happy to see the atmosphere at the gym for the volleyball series.
“Awesome atmosphere,” said Johnson. “It was great getting the kids from the musical doing O Canada and we got the cheerleaders here. That’s the reason we do this. It’s absolutely awesome for both of our schools.”
“I think it’s going really well and I’m glad we started it up again,” said Rogalski.
