Pollock sparks Bulldogs to victory
Jenna Pollock is easy to pick out on the volleyball court.
The Grade 11 student at Sir Winston Churchill is obviously a talented player. She spent this past summer training with Team Canada and playing in the world championships in Egypt.
Her skills were on display Tuesday as the Bulldogs recorded a 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-18 and 25-22) over the visiting Governor Simcoe Redcoats in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association play.
“When she is the front row, we need to hold and we can’t make mistakes because the longer we can keep her in the front row the more we can score points,” Churchill had coach Brent Mergl said.
Her on-court skills are only part of the package.
“She is a great player and even better, she is a better teammate,” Mergl said. “She is really good to all the girls, she helps them out and is an all-around great person.”
The 16-year-old enjoys high school volleyball.
‘It helps with getting touches in different places and I get to work with different girls and just have fun with it,” she said.
She plays a much different role with her high school squad.
“It’s a lot different because you are one of the better players and you have a lot more experience,” she said. “It’s coming back, helping the girls out and showing them what I have learned.”
The Defensa Volleyball Club travel player learned a lot in the summer competing with Team Canada.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “I brought back leadership and that I need to always enjoy the game.”
She is taking her volleyball career one step at a time.
“I want to stay with the national team and continue to develop my skills.”
As usual, Pollock will be a big part of the Churchill squad this season.
“We’ve got potential. We are almost the same team as last year and we had two players that came up from junior.” Mergl said. “But we are still really young. We are starting two Grade 10s and four Grade 11s.”
He feels this year’s squad is better than last year’s team that lost in the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA final to Westdale.
“As we get through the season, we just hope the consistency comes and I know it will,” Mergl said. “We will look good.”
The schedule maker didn’t do the Redcoats any favours as they opened league play with games against Eden and Sir Winston Churchill.
“It was a hard start to the season but we have phenomenal players,” Simcoe head coach Jen Bahn said. “We are young but we’ve got some solid girls and we are going to claw our way back after the holidays,”
Simcoe has high hopes for the season and the Redcoats have already won tournaments at E.L. Crossley and Governor Simcoe. At their own tournament, the Redcoats defeated both Eden and Sir Winston Churchill.
‘That was a big day,” Bahn said.
