ESTEVAN - The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs' volleyball teams swept the opening night of their Co-op Challenge series with the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles.
The senior girls opened the night by defeating Weyburn 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-20) and then the senior boys also won 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-15).
Senior boys' coach Bryton Such said it was an amazing night with a great crowd.
"It brought so much energy and excitement to the games," said Such. "It was awesome to see so many people out to support the teams and to watch some amazing volleyball."
The boys had good, consistent service pressure, did well managing their out system play and did a great job of taking care of free balls.
"I also think we did a good job of keeping the home crowd involved and giving them lots to cheer for," said Such. "We have some things to clean up as we move forward, but overall we took care of business."
Senior girls' coach Hunter Perkins said the team's two seniors, libero Cammy Henry and left-side hitter Emily Sauder, had great games. Henry had an "incredible" night passing the ball and Sauder attacked the ball very well.
"Karina Hjorteland, our setter, played well and ran our offence for the night, and some good serving performances from players like Sadie Aspinal put some good pressure on Weyburn," Perkins said.
He echoed Such's comments about the crowd, saying it was great to see so many people.
The school had the Very Important Volunteers group from Sacred Heart School/École Sacré Coeur run their canteen and they plan to donate their proceeds to a local charity. The Southern Plains Co-op sponsors the event and the school accepted cash and food donations at the door for the Estevan Salvation Army's food bank.
The Co-op Challenge is an annual four-match battle between the senior boys' and senior girls' volleyball teams from Estevan and Weyburn, with two matches in Estevan and two in Weyburn. The team that wins the most sets in those four matches wins the series.
Estevan has won the Co-op Challenge the past two years.
The second half of the challenge will be Oct. 23 in Weyburn.
