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Alberni's Armada junior girls 'dig' volleyball

There will be spikes, digs and kills at the Alberni District Secondary School gym on Thursday as the junior girls team hosts their only tournament of the year.
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The ADSS senior girls volleyball team run through a drill at practice. The ream is preparing for the North Island championships next month. Meanwhile

There will be spikes, digs and kills at the Alberni District Secondary School gym on Thursday as the junior girls team hosts their only tournament of the year.

Several teams from around the Island are coming to participate.

“It’s nice to have schools from other communities coming to us,” coach Candice Werner said.

Players have been practicing twice a week since the second week of school and competing in the North Island league against teams from Campbell River, Comox and Courtenay.

The team last participated in a tournament at Timberline Secondary in Campbell River.

The 12-member Armada squad is stocked with Grade 9s,Werner said. “It makes a big difference in terms of size and skill but it also means we have a bright future.”

The Armada senior girls have 13 players, a stat that when combined with the junior squad points to a resurgence in highschool volleyball.

It’s the first year in recent memory that there are enough players to field two high school volleyball teams.

“We’re a triple-A school in size and it’s disappointing that we haven’t had enough players for two teams but now we do,” Werner said.

The junior squad is already steeped in fundamental skills as well. “They understand their positions and switching so they’re savvy,” Werner said. “There’s still work to to be done though.”

Dig and smash... The ADSS senior girls are preparing to compete in the North Island championships, which are being held in Nanaimo in November. The team will be without mainstay Jami Oliver, who was lost to an ankle injury mid-season.

reporter@albernivalleynews.com