Quesnel's U18 girls Cobras volleyball team is heading to Edmonton for Nationals on the weekend for what will be many of the players' final year in the sport.
Recently the team took bronze in provincials and they've been waiting for their grade 12 year to go to the national competition as a big send off for a team that's known each other and played together for years.
"We're really excited to play teams from different provinces," said Scarlet Ruggles, one of the players. "We've mainly played like PG (Prince George) and stuff and just having that experience of going out of province and playing at a tournament as big as nationals, it's pretty cool."
Jordyn Farmer said she believes the team is ready to face teams from across the country and find out where they stand. She said they played their hardest in their recent games at provincials, earning a third-place spot.
"Team walked off crying, it was pretty emotional," she said because for some members of the team, including their captain, the final game of provincials was their final game with the team. "We've got high hopes but obviously we're not expecting to sweep out Nationals, we'll sit in the middle of the pack probably."
The other two players corrected Farmer and laughed as they said they'll definitely be higher than just the middle of the pack.
Izzy Burke is another player on the team heading to Nationals, she said it has been a great experience and has given her a chance to get to know the members of the team over the years.
"It's just a great way to hang out socially especially being grade 12 and everyone's so busy with work and school, it's just a really good excuse to be around your friends," she said. "Also we go play beach and stuff in the summer so it's a good way to be active and social."
She said that the team does well, especially considering the small size of Quesnel and the shorter stature of the team's players.
"We come at people a lot harder in games because we want to prove ourselves that just because we're a small town doesn't make us any less of a team," Farmer said. "I think having the team chemistry that we do, other teams don't really expect it." She said it's always fun to beat a team who thinks they'll win without a challenge.
The players said they are extremely grateful for coaches Emerie Brandson and Hannah Doucette.
"Emerie has been with us since day one. She's seen us at the worst we've ever played and the best and she's been there with us through everything," Ruggles said.
The players said Brandson will always stand up for them on and off the court and she has a knack for getting the team back into a game when they're getting down on themselves.
"They're definitely the big contributors to why we all are who we are. Practice is always so fun with Emerie and Hannah," Farmer said.
Ruggles said the game has been a big learning opportunity and the team and coaches have made that possible.
"I think having such a good supportive group of girls and really amazing coaches makes all the difference and that's why all of us are able to be here and try so hard and love playing and keep playing," she said.
The players said the team's biggest challenge is getting down on themselves when a game isn't going well, but Burke said sometimes it's easy to snap out of it.
"Someone will get an awesome kill or an awesome point and it's just like energy levels up," she explained saying that the mental game is a huge part of volleyball.
While the team is playing their last games together throughout Nationals, one of the things they're truly looking forward to is a very large prop they're expecting to be at the arena.
"The team is really looking forward to this ginormous volleyball that's supposedly outside of our games," Farmer said. "I don't know where it is, but the girls can't stop talking about this ginormous volleyball. They're so excited to take a picture with it."
The team leaves for Nationals on May 22 and returns May 26.
