The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) volleyball season got underway this Monday and action continued yesterday across three gymnasiums.

The junior girls and boys of the HO Nash Lions notched consecutive wins against the DW Davis Royals at the CI Gibson gymnasium.

The AF Adderley Tigers boys and girls doubled up their wins after defeating the Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves at the DW Davis gymnasium.

Meanwhile, the TA Thompson Scorpions’ junior boys collected a win against the CH Reeves Raptors but the girls came up short in their match.

Lions vs Royals

The Lions’ junior girls came away as last season’s GSSSA volleyball champions and looked poised to remain atop again this year.

The girls took down the Royals in two sets to earn a comfortable win. In set one, the Lions earned a 21-9 win. The following set was an even better showing for last season’s top team who won 21-7 to wrap up the match. Both sets combiined lasted for a duration of 25 minutes.

Patricia “Pattie” Johnson, head coach of the Lions, said it felt great to be back and earn the win.

“It feels good. I thank God I am getting another opportunity to coach again but we have a lot of kinks we are trying to work out, it is better to deal with it early rather than later,” she said.

Overall, she acknowledged that although the season is still new, she is hoping to help the team improve on the pesky service errors as they hope to defend their championship.

The junior boys had a more challenging match versus the Royals who claimed the volleyball championship hardware last season.

Both teams battled to the finish in a gruelling three sets. The Royals were the first to collect a set, winning the opening match 21-17. The Lions came up big in set two with the score ending 21-14. In the 14 minutes played in the third set, the Lions were able to fend off the Royals, closing out the junior school 15-11.

Johnson said it was a good day for both teams at the CI Gibson gymnasium.

“The teams are very young. It is a lot of hard work. The win is really good. DW Davis is relentless and they do not give up but we went back to what we did in practice and it is all good,” the coach said.

Tigers vs Timberwolves

The Tigers accomplished a similar feat after the girls bested the Timberwolves in two sets and took down the boys in three sets. The girls ended the two sets winning 21-9, 21-7.

In the junior boys matchup, the Tigers got the upperhand in set one edging out the Timberwolves 21-12.

The momentum shifted to the latter in set two as they clawed out a 21-17 win to make the match competitive.

However, the Tigers closed out their opponents 15-11 to go home with the victory.

Scorpions vs Raptors

The Scorpions and Raptors were the only teams to split wins between the boys and girls. The Raptors’ junior girls nabbed a comfortable victory in two sets 21-8, 21-16 to drop the Scorpions.

However, the junior boys got revenge and took down the Raptors 21-11, 21-13 in their two-set win.

The GSSSA volleyball season will continue this afternoon as the seniors face off.