The following is being distributed at the request of Newfoundland and Labrador High School Athletic Federation:

High School Federation girls volleyball this weekend

The Newfoundland and Labrador High School Athletic Federation will kick off its' provincial tournament season with four volleyball championships for girls, scheduled from November 30 to December 1. The federation has reorganized its provincial tournaments for this year, and this weekend will be the first test of the new system which allows for more teams of higher quality at provincial championships.

The girls A championships are being hosted by Random Island Academy and will feature nine teams playing in a two-division format. The host school will play in Division 1 with Ecole St. Anne (Mainland), Holy Cross (St. Albans), Main River Academy, and Mountain Field Academy (Forteau). All games in this division will be played at Random Island Academy. Division 2 will play out of Clarenville Middle School and will feature St. Marks (Kings Cove), Lakeside Academy (Buchans), J. C. Erhardt (Makkovik) and Cow Head School. Games get underway at 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Friday at the two venues. The top teams will meet in semi-final action Saturday afternoon with the winners advancing to the championship match. 

St. Joseph's Academy in Lamaline will be the host school for the girls 2A event. Eight teams will be competing for the championship banner. Play begins Friday at 10:30 a.m. Teams competing in division A include the host, St. Joseph's, Tricentia Academy (Arnolds Cove), Holy Cross (St. Albans) and Belanger Memorial (Doyles). Competing in division B will be Smallwood Academy (Gambo), King Academy (Harbour Breton), Hollands Memorial (Norris Point) and Christ the King School (Rushoon). Round-robin play continues 9 a.m. Saturday and is followed by semi-final and championship play.

Baie Verte High School is the host of the six-team 3A girls tournament. The tournament will be run in a round-robin format. The top team from the round-robin will get a buy to the final, while the second and third place teams will play off to determine who advances. Vying for the championship banner will be Baie Verte High, Pasadena Academy, Lester Pearson (Wesleyville), Menihek High (Labrador City), St. James Regional High (Port Aux Basques) and Lumsden High.

Games will be played at both Baie Verte High and Baie Verte Middle School and get underway at 11 a.m. Friday. The semi-final game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by the championship game at 2:30 p.m.

Clarenville High School is the host of the ten-team 4A girls tournament. Teams will compete in a two-division round-robin to determine who will meet in the semi-final and championship matches. Division A will see action from Queen Elizabeth Regional High (Foxtrap), Clarenville High, Ascension Collegiate (Bay Roberts), Regina High (Corner Brook) and Holy Spirit High (Manuels). Competing in Division B will be Exploits Valley High (Grand Falls-Windsor), Roncalli High (Avondale), Bishops College (St. John's), Herdman Collegiate (Corner Brook) and Marystown Central High. Play gets underway 10 a.m. Friday and continues throughout the day and into Saturday morning. The semi-finals are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. Saturday, followed by the championship match at 1:30 p.m.

All teams will be competing for the championship banner, as well as the team sportsmanship banner. This will be the first time this award will be presented at a provincial volleyball tournament, and it is one of the highlights of the federation's Sportsmanship First Program sponsored by Crime Stoppers.

All the federation tournaments are sponsored by School Milk Foundation, Dairy Farmers of Newfoundland and Keyin Tech. 

Media contact: Karen Richard, (709) 729-2795.

Convenors:

Girls A Volleyball Jason Lane 547-2380 (Tel) 547-2549 (Fax)
Girls 2A Volleyball Dominic Lambe 857-2790 (Tel) 857-2036 (Fax)
Girls 3A Volleyball Jim Shave 532-4288 (Tel) 532-4199 (Fax)
Girls 4A Volleyball Ben Osmond 466-2713 (Tel) 466-1009 (Fax)

2001 11 28                           11:35 a.m.