Skip to content

Cougars volleyball have high hopes with season in full swing

The Notre Dame Cougars and Hunting Hills Lightning battled to the bitter end in city senior girls volleyball play Wednesday.
14019362_web1_181017-RDA-M-181017-RDA-HS-girls-vball-Cougars
Hunting Hills Lightning player Sophie Peterhoff tries to hit past Notre Dame Cougars blockers Devin Hobbs and Amelia Cunningham in the first city league senior girls volleyball game at Notre Dame. (Photo by BYRON HACKETT/Advocate Staff)

The Notre Dame Cougars and Hunting Hills Lightning battled to the bitter end in city senior girls volleyball play Wednesday.

In a five-set thriller, the Cougars captured the first regular season meeting between the two teams after exhibition games wrapped up last week. Notre Dame won (25-21, 20-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-11) but for head coach Dana Woroniuk, it was the little mistake that her team needs to clean up as the season progresses.

“We struggle with mental errors. We have moments where it all comes together and we string a number of points together,” Woroniuk said.

“When we don’t play timid and we just go to get the point we play so much better than when we start to get a little bit afraid of making mistakes… we had some things we did so well tonight. Times where we’d be down and battle back and show a little bit of grit.”

Her team features five Grade 12s this year, a much less experienced squad then what they rolled out last season. With that, there is a lot to learn, which was evident Wednesday.

“Our moments of playing well are getting longer,” Woroniuk said.

“Then we fall apart for a little bit then we have to work to get back in the game a little bit. That idea of never getting too high or too low, just staying and playing at your five all the way through.”

Still, the Cougars have some strong weapons on offence that helped them out of trouble. Shynelle Woroniuk, Rachel Vida and Kennedy Shooter are reliable players who provide some firepower.

“I think offensively, we have some girls that can hit the ball this year. Defensively we have some kids that are willing to hit the floor. But now it’s getting into position so we don’t have to hit the floor. We have a pretty good team dynamic,” the head coach added.

On the boys side, the Cougars also topped the Lightning. Their three-set (25-23,25-19, 25-21) victory also wasn’t perfect but with an experienced lineup of eight Grade 12s, head coach AJ Mahoney likes the group they have.

“For me, I always have those (high) expectations but it’s a little bit different having that many that are graduating because I think they are putting a lot more pressure and expectations on themselves,” he said.

“They’re very motivated to make this a statement year. Whether or not that happens or not we’ll see. They’re working hard to make sure that it does.”

Brody Kopec, Zack Jansen, Colby Lindseth, Evan Cepuch, Johann Danielson, Brian Murray, Massimo Smith and Jake Wolfson are all returning for Notre Dame.

The Cougars head coach said his team has played well early in the season and is looking to turn the corner with playoffs and provincials less than a month away. They are currently the fourth-ranked 4A school in the province, but will still have to battle it out for the next three weeks against Hunting Hills and Lindsay Thurber to represent the region.

“We had some tough battles last season and I think those guys were all there to see that and some of them were a part of it,” Mahoney said of the returning talent.

“I think they come into the season just ready to keep battling. But also be a little more confident because they’ve had that experience.”

This weekend, local senior volleyball teams will play a tournament at Hunting Hills with action getting underway Friday.



Email sports tips to Byron Hackett

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

14019362_web1_181017-RDA-Hs-Vball-Cougars
Hunting Hills Lighting middle Ryan Mulder hits a ball past Zack Jansen in the first set of a city league senior boys volleyball game at Notre Dame on Wednesday. (Photo by BYRON HACKETT/Advocate Staff)
14019362_web1_181017-RDA-Hs-Vball-1Cougars
Notre Dame Cougars blockers Brody Kopec and Colby Lindseth stuff Hunting Hills Lightning hitter Kelton Perkins on Wednesday night in the first league game city league senior volleyball play at Notre Dame. (Photo by BYRON HACKETT/Advocate Staff)
14019362_web1_181017-RDA-M-181017-RDA-Hs-Vball-Cougars
Hunting Hills Lighting middle Ryan Mulder hits a ball past Zack Jansen in the first set of a city league senior boys volleyball game at Notre Dame on Wednesday. (Photo by BYRON HACKETT/Advocate Staff)
14019362_web1_181017-RDA-HS-girls-vball-Cougars
Hunting Hills Lightning player Sophie Peterhoff tries to hit past Notre Dame Cougars blockers Devin Hobbs and Amelia Cunningham in the first city league senior girls volleyball game at Notre Dame.(Photo by BYRON HACKETT/Advocate Staff)


Byron Hackett

About the Author: Byron Hackett

Byron has been the sports reporter at the advocate since December of 2016. He likes to spend his time in cold hockey arenas accompanied by luke warm, watered down coffee.
Read more