Strathmore High School hosting first volleyball tournament of the season!

As the high school volleyball season starts to wrap up, the Strathmore High School Spartans Senior Boys' and Girls' Volleyball Teams will be hosting their first tournament of the season.

Senior Girls' coach Darrel Hargrove said the team is excited to play in front of the home crowd for the first time this year.

"We've been steadily improving and clicking as a team, and things have really started to fall together, so I think the girls are really excited to showcase everything they've learned and grown into so far this season, and then put on some good matches in front of their friends," he said.

It's not just the first time this season though, this is the first time in several years that a full crowd could cheer the team on! Covid mandates kept the stands at limited capacity or completely empty, but this year the team will once again have a full gym's worth of support.

"After the covid years it's pretty amazing to fill up our stands and be able to play in front of their peers and friends and family and teachers and colleagues. It is special and we definitely have a good culture here at the school where there's lots of support on that end, we fill the gym and there's a lot of energy inside once everything gets going."

As for the team itself, Hargrove said they're a young team, as four of the 13 players are in grade 10. That's made getting adjusted to the speed of high school sports challenging, but the team has improved as the season went on.

"The girls have had some ups and downs throughout the season, we're pretty young. But the talent is definitely there, and we've had some really close matches with some really good teams this season so the future is looking bright."

After this tournament, the Spartans will participate in the zone tournaments on the 18th and 19th. From there, depending on where the teams rank, provincials are the following weekend.

The girls play tomorrow at 12:00 and 3:45, and the boys play at 1:15 and 3:45. On Saturday, both teams play at 8:30 am and 11:00 am. Good luck to the Spartans, make sure you cheer them on in the final tournament of the regular season!

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