With the game on the line, the Peacock Green team didn’t let emotions get the best of them. They finished the game just as they had started, taking the point. Except the final point was a perfect serve into the middle of the court that the Caronport Cougars didn’t read properly.
That final serve secured the junior girls volleyball title for Peacock Green on Wednesday evening. Peacock defeated Caronport 25-20 and 25-23 for the win.
“They played consistent and won it in two in the final. That is how we wanted to get it out,” said Peacock’s coach Heather Miller. “We had good communication and controlled aggression on our hits and consistent serving.”
Peacock Green defeated Vanier in two sets (25-23, 25-13) in the quarter-final, but then had a difficult test against Central Red in the semifinal. Those two teams would battle back and forth for points in would be settled in three sets. Central Red won the first set in extra points 27-25, but Peacock Green won the next two sets 25-19 and 17-15.
“We made it a nail biter in both games leading up to the final. We won by two in the first set in the first game then we squeaked it out in the semifinal,” stated Miller.
Each time Caronport and Peacock Green faced this season has been a fight as both teams play similar styles of aggressive volleyball. In the final, Peacock Green took control of the play.
“Every time we’ve seen Caronport, it has gone back and forth all season. They are scrappy team and put the ball back in our side,” said Miller. “We just kept telling the girls just one at a time and keep putting the pressure on their side.”
It was a good season for the Peacock Green team that saw them come from single players to a gelled team within the past couple of months.
“It was a huge season for us. At the beginning of the season, the girls didn’t really know each other and they bonded as a team and communicated and they work as a team…it really is a team unit,” explained Miller.
The challenges of junior volleyball aren’t just on the players trying to learn the sport at a higher level, but also for the coaches to assist, explain and develop the raw talent on the team.
“You have to build all the foundational skills and the team work and the communication,” stated Miller. “That’s how it works at the junior level.”
In the other quarter-final, Caronport defeated Avonlea (25-17, 26-24) and Central Red won in two sets (25-10, 25-14) over Central Gold.
In the semi-final, Caronport built first-place Peacock Orange in three sets (25-18, 15-25 and 15-11).
