Yukon’s male volleyball team is off to a great start at the 2022 Niagara Canada Summer Games.

After besting Nunavut 3-0 Thursday, they finished in second place in Pool C with a 2-1 record. They will now face New Brunswick in the Qualification Round today.

“We’re off to a good start,” said co-coach Melissa Laluk. “We hadn’t seen any of the teams in our pool ... we had a pre- tournament in Calgary, the Canada Cup and none of those teams were there, so we didn’t get a chance to see them in advance.

“Newfoundland came up first and they were the stronger team in the pool and (we) didn’t have much time to prepare for that one, so we did OK and I think we were getting our first-game stuff sorted out in that match.

“And then of course we were able to pull out a win with P.E.I. in four (sets) and that was really nice.” Laluk said it was a tough battle against P.E.I.

“Point for point, which is great, much harder than I anticipated, well, not harder, but I guess closer than I thought it would be. But a lot of the guys got in ... lots of subs and switches and changes, so we pulled it together through a bit of mixing and matching.”

Their last match wasn’t quite as tough.

“I felt for Nunavut, for sure,” said Laluk. “Before we played our first game against Newfoundland, we had a chance to go watch Nunavut play P.E.I. so we got the chance to prepare ... it was really nice because the boys were cheering for Nunavut.

“It was nice that we were able to get the three-set win against Nunavut and our entire team has seen (the) floor now and played and the younger guys were out there for that game, which is good.

“I would have liked to see it be a little more of a fight ... just a little more intensity but of course it was still nice to get the win, nice to get our top second-line team out there getting some game time ... and of course two wins moving into this crossover match is always nice to have.”

Laluk said the players haven’t had a lot of real competition.

“We just haven’t had a lot of time to compete and learn how to be consistent and what type of competitor they really are.”

She described leadership, especially that of Quinn Howard, Arcel Siosan and Alex Shultz, as one of the reasons for their success.

“I would say our strengths have been our ability to rely on those leaders and the depth that we have throughout our team to step in maybe when someone is struggling.

“Those three older fellas have been able to just be really strong through that and they’ve definitely been standing out for us,” she added.

Next up for Team Yukon is New Brunswick.

“We played New Brunswick in Calgary at the Canada Cup,” recalled Laluk. “We lost in four (sets) ... but I think, already the team’s kind of grown. I can see it being a good match for us if everybody goes and does what we need to do.”

Laluk agrees that the team is playing better than in Calgary.

“There are some things that have been coming around and everybody’s getting more familiar with ... the strategy component ... they don’t know what it is to actually watch video and go into a game knowing the opponent and that we’re gonna have a strategy that we’re gonna try to optimize. Usually they just show up and just play whoever’s there.

“We’ve seen New Brunswick before ... and that preparation will hopefully will help us along the way,” she added.

Laluk insisted that the players deserve the credit for their success.

“They’re the ones doing the work. They’re the ones who put in the time and come together ... me and (co-coach) Mark Senecal ... we’re just taking what they’ve already brought with us and try to form it and set them up with the best options and support to do as well as we can.

“I’m really excited for this matchup against New Brunswick ... I would love redemption against Newfoundland ... or even Nova Scotia because we lost to them in Calgary in five (sets) – any of those games, if we could have another matchup and try to do it over and do it better.”

Meanwhile at the Games, in Canoe and Kayak’s Male C-1 200 Metres Thursday, Kaleb Parry finished fourth in Heat 2 in 51.668. He followed that up with a third-place finish in the Consolation Heat in 51.393 and came in eighth overall.

In the C-2 500 Metre Mix, Julianne Girouard and Kaleb Parry came in third in 2:24.364, edging Saskatchewan by about six seconds, and beat them again in the consolation final, capturing third again in 2:28.761. Yukon finished seventh overall.

In the Female K-1 200 Metres, Julianne Girouard had great success, finishing third in Heat 1 in 47.591 and then capturing first in the Consolation Heat in 46.053. Girouard came in a strong sixth overall.

In the Male K-1 200 Metres, Joel Girouard finished fourth in Heat 1 in 43.861. He also paddled to fourth in the

Consolation Heat in 48.250, ending up 10th overall.

In the Male K-2 200 Metres, Rogan Parry and Bruce Porter paddled to fourth place in Heat 2 in 39.834. They gained a measure of revenge in the Consolation final, finishing a strong second in 41.008 and came in seventh overall.

At it again in the Male K-2 500 Metres, Parry and Porter finished fourth in Heat 2 in 1:48.715. They came in third in the Consolation Round in 1:49.689, paddling to eighth overall.

In the K-2 500 Metre Mix, Joel and Julianne Girouard had another strong showing, paddling into third in Heat 2 in 1:58.892. They topped that by finishing second in the Consolation Heat in 2:08.335 and finished seventh overall.

In Canoe and Kayak today, in the Male C-2 200 Metres, Kaleb and Mason Parry came in fourth in Heat 1 in 57.584. They then finished third in the Consolation Heat in 59.100 and eighth overall.

In the Male K-4 200 Metres, Yukon (Joel Girouard, Rogan Parry, Bruce Porter and Tycho Roy-Gelinas) finished fourth in Heat 2 in 39.664 and second in the Consolation Heat in 41.697.

In cycling Thursday, in the Female Road Race, Mara Roldan had an excellent result, finishing fifth in 1:58:32.00. Elizabeth Archibald came in 22nd in 2:08:00.00. Ava Irving-Staley and Mathilde Roldan didn’t finish the race.

In the Male Road Race, Spencer Littlefair finished 38th in 3:19.38.00, followed closely by Mack Jenner in 40th in 3:33:44.00.

In Individual Male Golf Thursday, Jase Johnstone and Drake Cooper lowered their Second Round scores to 80 and 81, respectively. They sit at 163 and 164, respectively, after two rounds.

In soccer, the girls are back in action today against Saskatchewan at 1 p.m. Yukon time.

In volleyball, in addition to the boys’ match with New Brunswick today, the girls lost to Nunavut 3-1 Thursday and 3-0 to P.E.I. this morning. They play a Consolation Round rematch with Nunavut today.

Athletics resumes today after a break yesterday.