Volleyball team wins first place

    The Chokai J.H.S. girls' volleyball team won first place at the Honjo-Yuri Sports Festival on September 21-22.  The volleyball team went 3-0 throughout the tournament and played exceptionally well, beating teams from Yashima, Yuri and Honjo Kita.  This was the first tournament for the team without its san-nensei (third grade) players.  The ni-nensei (second grade) players showed both poise and determination despite the stiff competition they faced.  Coached by Mr. Murakami and Mr. Sasaki, the young team's hard work paid off.  Led by team captain A.N., they started off with two league victories prior to their tournament run.  Over the weekend, the team won ten games while losing only two.  This was in part due to center player E.S.'s powerful hitting and strong blocking, which dominated the other teams at the net.  
    According to team captain A.N., "These were the first regular season games by our new team.  All the players played well together, so our team won the championship.  It made us very happy.  We want to do our best in the prefectural tournament in October."  

               
    The team will now advance to the Akita Prefectural Tournament, which will be held on Oct. 19-20 in Akita City.  Coach Murakami is confident that the team will play well.  According to Coach Murakami, "The team's strengths are its fighting spirit, strong serving, powerful center attacks and good blocking."  If the team continues to do these things, there is no telling how successful they could be.  And the future looks bright, too.  The team already starts one ichi-nensei player, H.M., and there are several other good, young players who will continue to mature over the next year.  This is an exciting time for the Chokai volleyball club and we wish them the best of luck as they continue their run.     

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