Game On: The Girls' Varsity Volleyball Takes On UBC!
With the first week of classes fully in motion after Orientation Week, the Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team would only have two days to come together as a unit. The tryouts consisted of endless drills that covered fundamentals and, while the four returning players had done these drills before, the brutal neck pains from staring at the ceiling of Foote started to kick in. Meredith B, Alex ‘28 observed, “It was a gruesome 10 minutes of craning my neck but I’m glad the coaches challenge us!”
After the tryouts, Coach Fougner, Mr Ma, and Mr Jamie McDougald scheduled a practice with a selection of players to scrimmage and to get more reps in before the weekend because from Friday the 12th to Saturday the 13th, the girls would be heading into their first ever tournament as a team. The girls headed to Vancouver for the UBC Mizuno Invitational tournament, the UBC campus packed with university students and 40 Canadian high school volleyball teams.
On Friday morning, one of the cafeteria staff, Insuk, greeted us with a warm smile, saying, “Good morning girls! Wow, is this for volleyball? If so, good luck!” With a few minutes to spare, several girls grabbed apples and bananas with peanut butter packets to keep them fueled for the three volleyball games that were ahead.
At the War Memorial Gym, the first day of games involved pools of four teams; day two would depend on how we played. We prepared for our first match by discussing goals to ensure a positive start to the day. As Taylor Swift says, “Shake it off”, the girls have followed her wise words by having a pre-game ritual of shaking it out. One of the returnees from last year, Katie J, Mack ‘26, said, “We will always love the thrill of shaking it out.”
With all four courts full of students cheering on their teammates, we would soon play against St Patrick Secondary School. In our opening game, we started strong with consistent serves and good passing. The energy throughout the two sets was as impressive with the cheering both on and off the bench keeping the momentum alive. We had earned our first victory!
The games that followed were tough, but the team played through the challenges. Despite the losses, we did not let it define our performance - or our spirit. These games had their hustle plays, thunderous blocks, and smart hits on offense, but ultimately every point was a chance to learn and grow stronger as a group. This experience brought us closer and we will put in the hard work together for the rest of the season.
Together, they will shake off these early results and move forward with confidence toward future victories!
Fiona C, Hope ‘26