Hawks gain experience

Times Reporter   

 

After two games into the season – against Strathcona Tweedsmuir on Sept. 18, and Holy Trinity Academy on Sept. 25 – Holy Cross Collegiates (HCC) senior boys volleyball team have been shut out twice, 3-0.

The Holy Trinity Knights took control with the help of their veteran players, 25-15, 25-16, and 25-13.

“Their team is a very experienced team. They have several club players,” said HCC Coach John Reinhart. “We had difficulties handling their hitting game, with our blocks being a little bit late.” 

Reinhart says his young squad has a lack of experience in comparison to the larger schools at this point in the season, but knows they will improve.

“As the boys are getting exposed to better teams and better players, they’re getting a better idea of what high school volleyball is all about,” he said. “For most of them, they’re used to junior high where there’s very little hitting, and pretty basic systems.”

Last year, the Hawks finished third in the league and were one game away from going to provincials. Many of the stars from 2012 graduated. Reinhart has one Grade 12, two Grade 11’s, and ten Grade 10’s on the varsity team; 13 players is a great deal in comparison to the seven Reinhart had last year.

“I didn’t have to make substitutions as much because there were less players. They just knew the system perfectly because they were playing it all the time and never had to worry about coming off the court,” he said. “Early in the season, I want the kids to play as much as possible, and get as much experience as possible.” 

In practice, HCC plans on working the basic systems and speeding up their game to be able to attack.

“We did not have an offensive attack enough to put much pressure on them so it was easy for them to run their offense – we have to make it more difficult for them to run their offense,” Reinhart said. “I was pretty happy, the effort was there, we just have to execute better.”