By Darren Lum

Published Dec. 13, 2018 

The
Red Hawks volleyball junior and senior girls proved to be the queens of
the court after hosting a pair of single A schools, the Titans of St.
Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary and the Bulldogs of Brock High School
on Thursday, Dec. 6.

With
a small crowd of peers and family watching, the Hawks’ two squads
combined to win 11 out of a possible 12 sets after two rally-point
matches. This was the first competition for the Hawks.
It was a great start to the exhibition series of tournaments, which leads to league play.
With
just three schools, there was an opportunity for best of three matches
instead of the typical limit of two sets. It was a strong showcase of
skills and composure for the juniors and seniors. 
The juniors’ lone loss of the day was a narrow 15-25 loss to the Titans. They won the match 2-1. 
Senior
Hawks coach Dan Gimon is optimistic about his team after seeing them
play. He liked how they executed and acknowledged the Hawks power game
advantage against the opponents, who lacked the personnel for an offence
to employ spiking on a regular basis.
Gimon said focus is key to success, particularly against weaker teams.

“All
teams tend to play down to the level of their opposition. We try and
keep them at their level and maintain [it] and stay tough because we’re
going to come up against tougher teams,” he said. 
He adds the team continues to work and will improve.
His message to his players is to never be spectators and remain engaged.
“You have to be ready at all times and I think they came through,” he said. 
Serving
was also a strong aspect for the seniors, who had stretches of powerful
and precise serves, which resulted in difficult returns for their
opponents.
He tells his players to focus on that first serve.
“Get
the first serve in because you work hard to get that ball back and to
put that ball into the net or out brings the whole team down. Get that
first serve in and then start serving tough,” he said. 

Making a mistake on a serve also takes a player out of the serving rotation for four turns, he said.
This
tournament also provides game experience, which not only informs his
players about position and playing with others, but helps with
confidence. The record was also indicative of the team’s reserves, who
he said “stepped up.” 
Getting playing experience is important for success later in the season. 
“If you don’t play them when it comes to crunch time somebody gets injured and then they don’t know where to go,” he said. 
Against the Titans, the Hawks faced a strong net coverage team.
Gimon said the team responded well to the challenge and he ran set plays where the power player hit from behind the attack line.
He loved what he saw from his rookies and believes they will improve.
First year player and a middle hitter Rebecca Archibald has skills, but can still improve.
He
has all the “confidence in the world” that her reads at the net will
develop so she knows when to get up at the net and when to drop back.

Rookie setter Emma Casey started all 12 sets for the seniors.
“There’s
a few little things we need to work on with her, but she did great. For
six sets for a rookie setter in senior she did amazing,” he said. 
Starting
setter Arden Harrop, who was dressed, was kept off the court for the
competition for precautionary reasons due to rolling her ankle. Harrop
has been practising, but wasn’t game ready due to her aggressive style
of play. 
“She can’t go half speed,” he said.
Gimon didn’t want to re-aggravate the injury. 

This
week the team will play at Lindsay Collegiate Vocational Institute in
Lindsay where they are expected to play St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic
Secondary School, including stiffer competition with Fenelon Falls
Secondary School, the Spartans of LCVI and I.E. Weldon.