Cheney teams warm things up

Cheney High School hosted its Black and Red scrimmages on Friday, Aug. 30, amping up players, coaches and spectators for the rest of the season.

Onlookers brought non-perishable food to donate for a food drive and enjoyed concessions, the proceeds of which benefitted the Senior All-Nighter.

Varsity and junior varsity teams geared up, ran drills and performed mini scrimmages for a crowd of fans in advance of the season’s official Sept. 1 start date.

An official score was not taken but coaches said the practice is a good warm-up for players.

Cheney High School’s head volleyball coach Heather Zorrozua said several officials and parents noticed the height of her players. Multiple varsity volleyball players this season are more than six feet tall.

“It’s funny because I see them every day so I don’t notice it as much,” Zorrozua said. “But at the scrimmages on Friday there were refs that came in and said, ‘Your team’s huge!’ So that’s exciting.”

The Blackhawk Volleyball Jamboree will take place at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5 at Cheney Middle School due to construction at the high school. It will be followed by an away game against Euphrata on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Cheney’s girls soccer coach Nels Radke said it the scrimmage was good practice for the real thing.

“Any time you get to play like that in front of an audience it’s a good thing,” he said. “But the real test will be at the Jamboree.”

Girls soccer kicked off with the Mary Shea Classic Jamboree on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at Crunk’s Field, while football will play Colville in an away game Friday, Sept. 6.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].