MVB REVIEW OF SEASON (2008-09)
For immediate Release: March 9, 2009
Kamloops, BC—It’s been a week since the season came to a close for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack Men’s Volleyball Team. Pat Hennelly’s fourth year at the helm of the program saw them make their second straight appearance at the CIS National Championships( 6 th place) after recording the most wins in their history (10).
“We went though a lot of things this year,” Hennelly explains “ First semester , we had to deal with high expectations from the public and ourselves. We had to change our thinking from being the underdog to being considered one of the top programs in the country. We had a lot of injuries in the first term that we had to deal with along with trying to find the right combination of starters.”
Hennelly thought his squad rebounded just before Christmas. Starting off with a sweep of Saskatchewan, the WolfPack went through their International tournament beating the likes of Budo Japan and NCAA Runners –up Pepperdine Wave twice. After sweeping Regina and Brandon, it appeared as if everything was ‘right in the WolfPack World”. But injuries to 5 th year Andy Haley (ankle, Stony Plain, Alta), sophomore Gord Perrin (ankle, Creston, BC) and the emergence of back problems to Martin Korsbak (3rd year, Nyborg, Denmark), put a damper on the last weekend of the season.
“It felt like we were putting on band-aids for the final month of the season,” explained Hennelly, we were never really healthy in the playoffs and Nationals either. 4 th year outside hitter Behlul Yavasgel (Aydin, Turkey) re-aggravated his separated shoulder in their game three win in the Canada West quarter finals against Trinity Western. He missed the Canada West Final Four and played very sparingly in the CIS Nationals
A bronze medal for a second straight year at the C W Final Four and a sixth place finish at the Nationals in Edmonton were highlights, but there is one event which stands out above all others for Hennelly in 2008-09. “The character win against Trinity in the playoffs (WolfPack won the series 2-1) has to be the highlight,” he says “ To go on the road…and we didn’t play our best volleyball. We didn’t play out best volleyball and struggled to control our emotions and our side of the court. They had a big crowd which was right on top of us. Thankfully, it’ll be the last time we have to play in that small gym (TWU is building a new facility expected to be ready for September 2009). We had to fight through a lot of things as a group. It was one of the first time that when our top players weren’t performing, others like Kyle Donen (3rd year, libero, White Rock, BC) stepped up. We found a way to get it done. It was a bright spot for sure.”
Hennelly admits that his team did struggle when they got to the Nationals. “It’s not that we played bad volleyball against McMaster. We didn’t have the push to fight through or ability to finish off a team when we had a lead. It’s baffling at times but we didn’t really have a chance to work on new things or refining what we had learned. We were just struggling to find a line up which would work. I can count on one hand the number of times Robin Schoebel (3rd year, outside hitter, Monaco), Gord Perrin and Martin Korsbak practiced together. We like to put those guys out as our three best blockers with Colin Jaggard (4th year, setter, Calgary Alberta) serving. Its no wonder we struggled at times to be consistent on the block-it’s a timing skill that you work on with someone else on a consistent basis.”
Hennelly believes that his squad learned a lot of lessons. “We learned that even if you are a first year player, you have to be prepared. We had five middles going into this season and at one point, we were down to two. Being a third or fourth player at a position doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to play. I don’t want to say that coming in 6 th in the country was disappointing, but we set our goals very high and I think this year will add fuel to our off season training and make every player and coach in our program hungary for the medal round next year.” He thinks that hosting the 2010 CIS Nationals, his club doesn’t have the pressure of having to qualify which will give him time to give everyone on his roster a long look.
The WolfPack will have a few holes to fill. Andy Haley is the only graduating 5 th year player. But there will be other roster spots open as well. Setter Martin Stenderup (2nd year, Ribe, Denmark) is returning home after the Danish government refused to accept the business courses he took at TRU the last couple of years. As well, middle Stefan Savoie (2nd year, Winnipeg, Man) is taking a year off from the sport to concentrate on his schooling.
Hennelly has already four recruits committed to the program (Stephen Richter and Alex Davis from Semiahmoo (White Rock, BC), Matt Krueger of MEI (Abbotsford, BC) and Colin Carson of Duchess Park (Prince George, BC)). Add to that, libero Spencer Reed of Prince George, BC who red-shirted this season.
He’ll be attending the Canadian College Athletic Association Championships in Fort McMurray, Alberta this week in hopes of adding another veteran player. “I’m looking for a guy who can come in when things are tough and help out or be a starter when we have injuries. In the long term, we have to add three more players as well as we look ahead to the players graduating in the next couple of years.” He adds.
“ And, obviously, we need to have a better season record, “Hennelly adds. “We would also like to host at least one playoff series to get used to the pressure before Nationals. Those goals are achievable. It’s going to be dogfight in Canada West again. Alberta should be on top, but after that, the other spots are up for grabs.”
SIDE OUTS: The WolfPack players should be busy this summer. Perrin is expected to play for not only the Junior National team at the World Championships, but for Team BC at the Canada Summer Games. Kyle Donen (libero, 3rd year, White Rock, BC) and Josh Boruck (1st year, outside hitter, Revelstoke, BC) could both play for the BC Canada Games team but also have qualified for the National Team for July’s Maccabbi Games in Tel Aviv, Isreal. Middle Conor Eatch (1st year, Aurora, Ont) is to play for Ontario at the Canada Summer Games as well.
Speaking of Perrin, he’ll be in Vancouver on March 24 th at the Sport BC Annual Awards Banquet. He is up for University Player of the Year.