WOLFPACK MVB GEAR UP TO OPEN 2009 CIS NATIONALS VS MCMASTER
For Immediate Release: February 26,2009
Edmonton, Alta--If the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack are nervous about their first match at the 2009 CIS Men's Volleyball Championships, they weren't showing it in practice. Unlike last year, where they were a bit in 'awe' of the Nationals experience, Pat Hennelly and his crew were joking and seemed at ease during their serve and volley.
"Its not overconfidence," says Hennelly. "I think that once you have been here once, you aren't standing around gawking. You know what is expected. I think we are more of a veteran team with a lot of guys being here for three or four years. We know what to expect and that is where some of that confidence comes from. I know our guys were anxious to get to the gym today. Its a healthy balance of confidence and nerves.'
The WolfPack go into Friday afternoon's (1:30 pm PST Feb 27) tilt against the third ranked McMaster Marauders as underdogs, a role they have held since they entered the CIS a short four season's ago.
This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. McMaster finished 7th in the 208 CIS Championships in Laval.
"I like where my team is at right now," said Marauders coach Dave Preston, into his seventh season at the helm at McMaster. "More importantly, I like where we are going. I like the focus that the guys have shown over the last month. We had a rough go of it after Christmas. We had some good matches at a tournament in Laval. They exposed a couple of things on us. We had to get down to work on correct things."
Preston says Laval exposed how rocky his team was in its systems. "Its hard to do when students have a full time course load. It takes a lot of work to hone on your systems in the middle of your season. I'm proud how the guys handled it. It was extra work but we did it and we are a better team because of it."
Preston has lost five player from the Marauders club which played at last years Nationals. He says they have some good young talent who've been with the National Youth Program, Junior team and Team Ontario.
The WolfPack aren't taking their Ontario opponents lightly because of that experience.
"You look at their size and the resume of some of their athletes," says Hennelly. It'll be a very close match up. Physically, we are probably as close as another team as we have been all season aside from the University of Alberta in terms of size across all positions. I think it is going to be a good volleyball game. It will be a big, physical game with a lot of stuff happening at the net."
Thompson Rivers has played at the U of A Main Gym before. They won the Canada West bronze medal there last weekend. Hennelly thinks that it will be an advantage. "Absoluetely. Anytime that you play in a venue a couple of times...and we have played here at the Final Four the last couple of years and during league, there is a sense of comfort. In volleyball, lights are a big thing. When setters look up and servers look up and we sort of know the general space of the court, it is an advantage."
SIDEOUTS: The WolfPack are expecting both outside hitters Behlul Yavasgel (4 th year, Aydin Turkey) and Robin Schoebel (3rd year, Monaco) to see some court time against McMaster.The WolfPack are rated sixth going into the Championships.
The other matchups have Winnipeg against Laval,Dalhousie taking on Brandon and defending CIS Champion Alberta doing battle with the University of New Brunswick.
Dalhousie is making its 30 th straight appearance at the CIS Championships. Alberta has been ranked number one in the nation for two straight years.
Championship website: