Central youngsters impress in victory over Avonlea

Corey Atkinson
Moose Jaw Times-Herald
The Central Cyclones veteran-laden line-up of eight Grade 12s aren't likely to be beaten this year, so coach Shaune Gray is occasionally going to take some lumps with younger players.
Even with these lumps, Central still defeated the Avonlea Eagles three sets to one (25-18, 25-14, 27-29, 25-18). Championship dynasties like the one Central has in boys volleyball in the city are made through winning tough games like this with younger players.
Even with the kids on the floor, Central wasn't expecting to lose a set at home, which they did in the third. With veterans on the bench through most of it, Central eventually lost a tug of war with the surprisingly strong Eagles.
Gray knows that they still need to develop their younger players, and the best way to do that is to give them floor time in key situations.
"It's very early," said Gray. "It was just nerves. They panicked a little bit at the score and kind of tightened up, which caused them to scramble. But for the young kids, I expect them to do a little bit of that."
After some dicey moments early, Central's young players played the game they were supposed to play in the third set in the fourth and won comfortably.
They won the first two sets on the strength of veteran Adam Julian, a senior power player with one of the best serves the city has seen in recent years and a strength at the net.
"He's our main passer, our main hitter," said Gray of his performance Tuesday. "That was the big thing right there, and everyone else stepped up and did their parts, too."
Avonlea are a young team in their own right, and they got some key performances from veterans like Dereck Mondor in winning the third set.
"It was our first match of the season and our first games of any sort, so we're a little raw," said Avonlea coach Brent Lothian.
There was some rust, but there was a lot of play to be happy with for the school, particularly in the development of younger players.
"The key with us is keeping the kids so they don't go away and play hockey on us," Lothian said. "We lost a couple of hockey players again this year."
Lothian said he's been blessed the last three or four years with having good athletes at the school.
"You can build a pretty strong team around two or three players, and have the other guys fill in and do smart things and have a good system set up," he said. "We've got two or three guys to build our offence around, so now (we want to) get our young guys to fill in on defence."
Scores from other games were unavailable as of press time.

Corey Atkinson can be reached at 691-1260