The John Paul II Crusaders and the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings senior girls volleyball teams are hoping for a hometown advantage this weekend.
Both squads will be competing against six other schools for one of three spots in the provincial 5A volleyball championships this weekend during a north regional tournament at North Battleford Comprehensive High School.
“We’ve been working hard to get ready for this event,” Vikings head coach Jana Friedenstab said. “We’ve spent a lot of time working on our best rotation on the court for certain matchups and we are pretty excited about this weekend.”
“The girls are really excited about getting to play in their own town,” Crusaders head coach Shari Dueck said. “It’s not our home school but it’s a place that we play in on a regular basis.”
Both teams have been travelling around the province for a number of tournaments and exhibition games, which was highlighted by the Vikings winning an all North Battleford final during a tournament they hosted in September.
“We’ve been able to make the playoffs at a number of tournaments since then, but we weren’t able to come away with any medals,” Friedenstab said. “We’ve gone up against a number of provincial medal winning teams from different divisions, and it’s been exciting to play them as it allows our girls to play harder and work harder.”
The Vikings, meanwhile, have had to work through a number of injuries on their roster in the run-up to the regional tournament.
“That has been a bit frustrating, but we feel like the team is in good shape,” Dueck said.
“A number of girls have been playing in different roles throughout the season and that should help us not just this year, but in the future.”
The Vikings are placed in Pool A for the regionals and will play Melfort, Martensville and Prince Albert Carlton in round-robin pool.
The Crusaders, meanwhile, will take on Meadow Lake Carpenter, Prince Albert St. Mary and Warman in Pool B competition.
“Each team has their different strengths,” Friedenstab said. “You have teams that have strong outside hitters and you also have teams that are very good in how they control the middle of the court.”
“It’s a strong field from top to bottom, and I think it will be a very tight race to get into the final,” Dueck added.
Round-robin competition will get underway at 6 p.m. Friday with the gold and bronze medal contests taking place Saturday at 5 and 6 p.m. respectively.
The top three teams will then move on to the provincial championships in Regina on Nov. 18 and 19.
