Perry Enns and the Sacred Heart Lady Saints senior volleyball team are just about ready for the upcoming regional and conference play in the weeks ahead.
Enns said he has done a good job mixing together a group of ladies who also have interest in other sports at Sacred Heart.
Over the past weekend, he and the soccer coach at Sacred Heart had girls switching jerseys, from volleyball to soccer, then back to volleyball and back to soccer again.
"I have six strong players who all play soccer," he told the press in between volleyball matches at the HaloDome, while outside, the likes of Shayla Merriam and Kristen Jonassen among others were changing clothes as fast as they could.
Sometimes it gets hard to decide who is going to play where and what sport, says Enns.
"We have had some tournaments where they all go to soccer."
Team chemistry has been "a little more slow in getting gelled together".
When the soccer girls opt for volleyball, it has made the Saints a sight to see.
"They've done a lot of growing as a team," he said. "I'm happy with that."
Jonassen has stepped up her game, Enns told reporters. Hannah Hansen has followed suit, he said.
Lucky for him and coach Fetsch of the SHHS girls soccer team, both girls still have one more year of high school eligibility remaining, says Enns.
Both girls saw action in Friday's opening contest where they faced the Yorkton Regional High School in the Saints vs Raiders match.
"It was a good match," says Enns.
"It was nice to play in front of the whole school."
Lee Poncelet, who heads the Raider girls, collected his second gold medal finish in two weeks with a 2-1 victory over Estevan in the final.
He said they fell behind in the opening set but rebounded to win the next one, force a third and deciding set and the oranges won that one too.
"We played very good volleyball," he said, adding that they are now on a two-weekend winning streak. They had won the weekend before (Oct. 12-13) in Canora.
They are in Weyburn this weekend to conclude their regular season and regionals are the following weekend in Moose Jaw.
SHHS finished in third place, going 7-5 through the round robin.
Enns said his team had a quarter final against Canora that came at a bad time.
"SHHS then faced Canora in the quarter final which was unfortunately at the same time as the Saints regional championship game. The Lady Saints (volleyball team) were without four (Kaitlin Inglis, Shayla Merriam, Kristen Jonassen and Morgan Shymanski)."
SHHS came out strong in the first set and won 25-10 and won the second set 25-23 to put them into the semi finals against Estevan, where they were helped by the returning soccer players; they couldn't get anything going in the opening set but made a game of it in the second set.
"Fatigue played a huge factor in the first set as they struggled to gain any momentum. They rallied in the second set but fell short 25-21."
Enns said the final came down to Estevan and the YRHS. Estevan won the first set 25-15. YRHS rallied to win set two, 25-20 and in the third, YRHS won 15-6.
Also participating in the Lady Saints Invitational was Melville, Canora, Esterhazy, Estevan, Wadena and the two local schools.
SAINTS VS RAIDERS
ROUND 3
The two schools have played each other twice so far in local tournaments. Says Enns, they will meet yet again on the day before Hallowe'en when the Raiders enter the HaloDome in another mini tournament on Oct. 30.
Following those games, SHHS will be ready for conference play, expected to be held in Fort Qu'Appelle and regionals will follow the weekend of Nov. 9-10.
