The Notre Dame Cougars senior boy's volleyball team plans to play a gritty style of volleyball this season.
After starting the Central Alberta High School Volleyball League season 0-2 losing to St. Joseph and Lindsay Thurber, head coach Sean Boyne said there have been some growing pains but the team is coming together.
They've had younger players step into bigger roles after graduating seven players from last year's team.
"There have been moments of good volleyball but we're still just piecing it all together," Boyne said. "They're definitely more of a team early on than in seasons past. They understand some roles on the team better and I think they like each other more, which is good to see."
The past two years the Cougars have made it to the 4A central zone championship but have been unable to get over the hump. They hope to get another shot at it in 2024.
"The goal for every season is to win... I'm hoping that those are learning experiences that we can continue to learn from and put into practice as we compete for a third appearance in the zone finals," he said.
The Cougars will field a roster of 12 players with five returners including five from Grade 12, four from Grade 11, and three in Grade 10. With the Lindsay Thurber Raiders as the team to beat, the Cougars will have to play near-flawless volleyball if they meet in the zone final again.
"I've been clear with my guys so far on the way we want to play," Boyne said.
"We want to be fundamentally sound but also very scrappy on defence. I think in the last two seasons we've kind of gotten by with individual brilliance but being a hard-nosed gritty team is going to be our route to success because we do have a few offensive pieces."
In addition, they hope to focus on playing as a team. Grade 12 student Jamie Purse, Boyne said has been their go-to outside hitter after moving out from the middle this year, bringing a lot of energy to the team. They will also utilize Grade 11 Marek Corbiere on the outside.
"We're excited for the rest of the year and seeing what we can do as a team."
