New era underway for girls volleyball at North Star High School

North Star’s Olivia Petro (left) and Aria Pare come together as they go after a ball in junior girls volleyball action last Thursday evening.

It’s a new era for the girls volleyball program at North Star High School.

New coaches are leading both senior and junior teams, with them both being former players. Mya Foreman is helping coach the senior girls team while Morgan Hadfield is coaching the junior Wolves. 

Lisa Voakes is helping coach both teams as well.

The senior team hosted the Essex Red Raiders last Thursday evening and it was the Red Raiders who came away with a two sets to one victory. The Wolves had their chances in the first set but it was Essex that would surge towards the end of that set and come away with a 27-25 win.

North Star kept it close in the next game, but Essex won the second set by a score of 25-23. In the third set, the Wolves won that by a score of 25-21.

“They had really good energy to start the game,” said Foreman. 

Foreman believed they did a lot of things well but there are parts of their game they have to work on as well.

The Wolves will be playing in this weekend’s Black & Gold Invitational Tournament at North Star, and Foreman believes they can clean up some things and gain some experience.

“We’re looking forward to showing our skills,” she said.

Foreman was also pleased with the level of support the Wolves had last Thursday evening.

“I thought it was a pretty good turnout for the first game of the season,” she said.

The junior game followed, with it once again being a two sets to one victory for the visiting Essex team. 

The Red Raiders captured the first set 25-17 with North Star tying the match with a 25-20 win in the second set. The third set went in favour of the Red Raiders 25-20.

Hadfield said they played well in the first set but believed the junior Wolves were nervous throughout the match. They want to get more consistent going forward, she added, but added they worked well together.

There’s a “pretty even mix” of Grade 9 and Grade 10 players on this season’s junior girls team, she added.

The seniors play this week at home versus Leamington Thursday at 4 p.m. The junior girls play Tuesday at Walkerville at 4 p.m. and against Leamington at home Thursday at 5:20 p.m.

New era underway for girls volleyball at North Star High School

By Ron Giofu