ST. GEORGE – The girls’ volleyball team from Fundy High School finished third at the recent provincial championships with a 1-2 record.
Coach Sylvie Whippie feels nerves may have worked against the team, with the team not playing up to its own level on Saturday.
“Nerves, stress really played a big role in that,” said Whippie. “We were making so many mistakes, it’s not the other team that beat us.”
She said her players were nervous because it was their first time at a provincial championship. The team also found it difficult, she explained, to deal with the speed the other teams were playing at.
“They were a little bit thrown off about the speed,” she said, adding teams don’t play with the same speed at their local level as the ones at the tournament and adapting on the fly is difficult.
She and the team will take the tournament as a learning experience and work to improve for next year.
“(We’ll) try to get out to more tournaments and try to get experience with some teams that play a higher speed game.”
Whippie has six players coming back for next season and, she says, some younger up-and-coming players who she feels will be able to contribute.
“(They) are going to be able to adapt very quickly,” she said, of the team that’s carrying forward.
robertfisher@stcroixcourier.ca