Volleyball champs

Churchill Falls has proven it knows how to play volleyball.

A team of 10 girls from Eric G. Lambert School weathered a blizzard and blew away the competition at the Provincial Girls Small School Volleyball Championships held in Kings Cove from Feb. 4-6, while the boys' team came away the champions of the Boys Double-A Provincial Tournament after a competition in Woody Point from Feb. 12-13.

Girls dominate

The ladies won their game on Feb. 4 against the home team - St. Mark's Lions - in two sets, according to a press release issued by the team.

Ron Blair, team coach, said a snowstorm hit the following day and the tournament was postponed until Feb. 6, but when it started back up, the girls won all the games in the round robin competition and automatically made it to the finals.

In the finals the Churchill team played the Lions again and won in two sets with scores of 25-12 and 25-16.

Blair said Sarah Power, captain of the E.G. Lambert girls team, won a sportsmanship award for her school, and though the school's girls volleyball team has won quite a few championships and gained a reputation for the sport, winning never gets dull.

Boys excel

For such a small school, Terry Holmes, the boys volleyball coach, said the E.G. Lambert boys pushed the boundaries by participating in a Double-A tournament.

He said the team applied to play in Double-A because it won a small school competition last year and he knew his players were good enough to compete with the larger schools.

The boys came first in their division and won in the finals against Gill Memorial Academy from Musgrave Harbour in two sets scoring 25-16 and 25-14.

Holmes attributes the team's success to years of teamwork - many of the players have been together since Grade 7 and they practice four days a week.

Riley Edwards, who plays centre and who Holmes describes as the cornerstone of the boys team, won the sportsmanship award for his school.

Preparing to compete again

Blair noted the junior girls volleyball team is now preparing for Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games playdowns, and senior girls are hoping to try out for the provincial team; Holmes expects some boys from his school to participate at the end of the month in Juvenile B Championships in St. John's.