What a weekend!
The Ratihén:te High School volleyball team is powering through the season, with another strong Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) tournament in the books.
“They played phenomenally,” said Karonhienhawe Nicholas, mother of player Sage Harrington, who attended the tournament at Polyvalente Sainte Therese on Saturday. “They are getting better and better. We were on the edge of our seats!”
Ratihén:te finished second place in their pool, missing first by only four points, going 6-2 on the day overall.
Nicholas pointed out that the team performed at a high level despite a small roster, meaning the athletes scarcely had time to rest.
But one of the team’s players, Tehweshon Patience Nelson, had a more whirlwind weekend than most, bookending her volleyball outing on Saturday afternoon with performances in net at a ringuette tournament in Pointe Claire, playing Friday, Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and Sunday.
Her team made it to the semi-finals, where they suffered a 2-0 defeat. But Nelson put on a show, according to her father Jeffrey Nelson, who coaches her on both the ringuette and volleyball teams.
“My daughter stood on her head with at least a 50, 60-save performance. She was incredible that game,” he said
Meanwhile, Jeffrey is ecstatic with the growth of the Ratihén:te volleyball squad over the course of the season so far.
“The volleyball was amazing. These girls just keep impressing me, making me so proud every single tournament,” said the coach.
Sign up for email updates from The Eastern Door
It all comes down to a disciplined approach, said Nelson, who has frequently talked about the importance of avoiding “ping-pong” style volleyball.
“It’s like they’re all moving as one now,” he said. “We’re very vertically challenged - there’s not a lot of blocking, not a lot of hitting, but they’re just following the ball perfectly and executing everything properly.”
