Volleyball fans had a great chance to see their team in action Thursday at Northshore’s Jam of Champs with 14 squads, 11 local participating.

Each played three games against three different opponents and it was capped at 27. Teams were divided into three pools, “A,” “B” and “C.”

Northshore coach Sandy Blancher said this was an awesome way to start 2010.

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“Fourteen teams coming together, all the camaraderie with the coaches and great food, Blancher said. “Awesome teamwork from the whole Northshore community I think from the parents to the kids working and the P.E. Department at Northshore High, helping setup. To move 14 teams in three games in less than six hours, I think that’s pretty great.”

“We are just so thankful that everybody wants to come year-after-year to our jamboree. We really appreciate that they think of us enough to come every year,” Blancher added.

Four teams went undefeated in Fontainebleau, Covington, St. Thomas Aquinas and Our Lady Academy, a three-time state champion out of Mississippi.

FHS, a state semifinalist last season, won their first game 25-16 over Slidell, before being victorious over Mandeville 25-16 and they capped the 3-0 mark by topping St. Scholastica Academy 25-14.

Covington, a 2009 playoff team, captured a 25-12 win over Loranger, 25-7 against Salmen and 25-13 over Northlake Christian School.

St. Thomas Aquinas, a regional round club last year, beat NCS 25-22, Loranger 25-14 and Northshore’s varsity 27-25.

OLA topped Archbishop Hannan 25-16, Pearl River 25-10 and NHS’ varsity team 25-15.

There were also two local coaches that weren’t with their club last season.

Mandeville’s Jody Walker, whose team went 2-1, returned to the sidelines for high school following a three-year absence. Walker continued teaching, but he just wasn’t coaching.

He said it was good being back.

“I like working with the kids. They’re a great group of girls. They’re trying and working hard out there,” Walker said. “That’s all you can ask as a coach is having your kids work hard, try to understand and learn the game and try to understand what you want out of your players.”

The Lady Skippers made it to the finals Walker’s last three seasons. They were state runner-up, then they won and they were state runner-up his final season.

Mandeville faced some adversity getting down 15-2 against Fontainebleau. The Lady Bulldogs won that game but MHS showed grit in making a run.

Mandeville won their other two contests 25-20 over SSA and 27-26 against Slidell.

For the jamboree, Nichole Freeman dished out 17 assists, while pulling up 10 digs and putting down eight kills. Katie Lindelow posted 14 assists, 12 kills and 12 digs. Kelsey Shreve logged nine digs.

Northlake Christian has a new coach in Stephanie Bower, who takes over a program that has won three-consecutive state titles.

She said she feels blessed to be coaching a three-time state champion.

“I know what I bring to the table and the girls have a lot of experience. We have a great program going here. I’m just very thankful,” Bower said.

Bower, who is in her third year of coaching volleyball, is doing this for the first time in Louisiana.

“I have a great team. I love each of the girls, they’re hard working, great athletes, the school is very supportive and it’s just a great atmosphere,” Bower said.

NCS went 1-2 Thursday. They fell to St. Thomas Aquinas and then Covington 25-13 before capturing a 25-9 victory over Salmen.

Hannan, a regional round team last season, posted a 2-1 mark with a by a 25-19 victory over NHS, the setback to OLA and the Lady Hawks rebounded to edge Pearl River 27-26.

Pearl River, who made it to the regional round in 2009, was 1-2.

The Lady Rebels defeated Northshore 25-20 before the losses to OLA and Hannan.

Pearl River coach Britanee Symons said the jamboree was good for her club.

“We played very well,” Symons said. “We identified what we needed to work on. It was a great jamboree.”

The host squad, who missed the playoffs last year, went 0-3 with losses against Pearl River, OLA and then St. Thomas. NHS’ JV team finished 2-1. They lost to Hannan 25-19 and then were victorious against Loranger 27-25 and Salmen 25-19.

Slidell, a 2009 regional round team, was 1-3. They began by falling to FHS, but beat SSA 26-24 and finished by losing to Mandeville 27-26.

SSA, playing without their seniors due to a ring mass, went 0-3 with losses to FHS, SHS and MHS.

For the jamboree, Billie Delahoussaye posted 11 digs, while Isabella Healy had six. Mary Grace Gitz passed for 19 assists. Whitney Amato put down seven kills, while Elizabeth Woodard totaled five.

Salmen, who missed the postseason in 2009, was 0-3 with losses to Covington, NCS and NHS’ JV club.

Loranger, a playoff team last year, went 0-3. They had setbacks against NHS’ JV team, CHS and St. Thomas Aquinas.