There’s the first pass. Then the set. Oh, the hit is up and they scored the point. The JO volleyball team ended up winning the second set of the volleyball game, scoring by more points to win it overall to make it to bracket play.
This volleyball set was the hardest game for the 12-1 JO volleyball team because they’ve never seen an LA Diggers team like this before. Even though they won, they still went back to practice the next Tuesday and started getting better because “We will play the LA Diggers another time in our season,” Ruby Kyyra, a sixth grader said. The CFJO volleyball program is an important step in building strong and athletic volleyball players for future years to come. Cannon Falls has a swell Junior Olympic volleyball program for 6th graders, and the program has had a really good season so far.
Lillian Olund, a 6th grader on the 12-1 JO volleyball team says, “My reaction to winning that game was that all the pressure lifted off our shoulders and we knew we were on the way to winning gold.”
This was their third tournament and their home one too. All of their tournaments so far have been really great. The first one was in Rodgers, where they got third place out of eight teams and almost placed in the championship. As for the second tournament in Rochester, they won all three of their games and got first place. During their home tournament, they also got first in pool play but then got fourth in bracket play. The JO volleyball team has gotten pretty good at working as a team and playing harder teams since their first practice of the year.
In CFJO (Cannon Falls Junior Olympics) there are some responsibilities that come with it like practicing at home when not at practice so you can always improve and get better. Or by making sure everybody is a coachable player and always having good sportsmanship. The most important responsibility though is not being mean to anyone such as team members, coaches, and most of all parents. The 12-1 team has practices every Tuesday and Thursday after school. On the team, there are mostly sixth graders although two of them are in fifth grade. The players on the team are Kaitlyn Kapp, Brekkyn Ayres, London Bentzin, Lillian Olund, Lizzie Tipton, Ruby Kyyra, Lydia Samuelson, Audrey Hyllengren and Jocelyn Bernatz. Even though the players on the team are different ages, they still work really well together, like they have been playing with each other for a pretty long time.
Lizzie Tipton, a sixth grader, says “I play volleyball because I like the new opportunities it brings and the new skills I learn every year.” Lizzie also had to learn a whole new rotation because one of the setters on their team was gone for their home tournament. She had to learn the setting rotation even though she is an outside hitter. Their team was kind of struggling a little bit with adjusting to the new rotations but they managed to get some wins and had more of a team bonding experience. The rotation that they run is called a 6-2 with two setters and the rest passers or hitters.
“The CFJO program has strong coaches who push their players to be their absolute best. But overall it’s not about winning or losing in the end, it’s about having fun,” said Lydia Samuelson, a middle hitter in 6th grade on the team.
The CFJO youth volleyball program is an important step into building strong and athletic volleyball players for future years to come. It is more than just a sport to many players; it’s where they make new memories and try something that they have never tried before.
