GOLDEN BEARS SWEEP WOLFPACK IN MENS VB
For Immediate Release: November 12, 2008
Kamloops- When you are National Champions, you know that everyone is out to knock you off. So far in 2008, the University of Alberta Golden Bears Men’s Volleyball team has proven that its going to be a difficult chore to do that.
Terry Danyluk’s Bears raised their record to an unblemished 6 and 0 after sweeping the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack. After being taken to 5 sets on Friday (Nov 21), Alberta swept the WolfPack on Saturday (Nov 22). They sent the Kamloops faithful home disappointed after taking their homeboys 25-19,25-12,25-19. It’s the first time all season that TRU has been swept in three straight sets.
“I thought it was better for us,” says Danyluk in comparing this victory to the one the previous night. “They played well at the start. I think they got shaken when Yavasgel got injured. He played so well against us yesterday and is a steadying factor. When he went out, you could see the energy level drop”.
Behluhl Yavasgel (4 th year, outside hitter, Aydin, Turkey) suffered a separated shoulder in the second set with the Golden Bears up 12-4.
“We had to put a different line-up in when he got hurt,” reflected WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. “ I had no one else besides Martin Stenderup (a setter, 2nd year, Strib Denmark) on the left side. We were forced to move Gord (Perrin, 2nd year, Creston, BC) around a little bit. I guess he didn’t know what was going on and it led to more confusion. I thought it was unravelling before that…it just added gas to the fire.”
Yavasgel withered in pain in the backcourt for a few minutes before being escorted off. It’s the third injury for the WolfPack veteran this year (following up on thumb and ankle problems).
The Golden Bears were led by 3rd year left side Ben Saxton (Balzac, Alta). He had 15 kills. Alberta had nine service aces in the contest. Three of them came from setter Mike DeRocco (4 th year, Winnipeg, Man) and right side Joel Schmuland (5th year, Calgary, Alta). Both had three a piece. Schmuland had nine digs to lead Alberta in that category.
“I think that allowed us to block better,” said Danyluk. “The one’s they did get weren’t good passes. Yesterday, I thought we missed so much that when we did serve in it was too easy. Today, we made it a little tougher.”
Perrin led the WolfPack offense with 11 kills. Stenderup had 11 assists. Andy Haley (5th year, outside hitter, Stony Plain, Alta) had 5 digs.
“We wanted to be 500 and that’s where we are right now (3-3),” stated Wolfpack Head Coach Pat Hennelly. “We let a few slip away and got lucky on the opening night against Manitoba. We just need to re assess where we are. We’ll head to Winnipeg and hope to beat them.”
As for Alberta, they will host arch rival Calgary in a pair of matches next weekend. Are Bears where Coach Danyluk wants them to be? Or are they exceeding his expectations at this point?
“I knew we were pretty good. We had three pretty major guys in our setter Brock Pehar,Adam Kaminski was a five year starter in the middle and Kevin Hatch our libero. The people coming in have done a pretty good job. I guess you could say we are a little farther ahead because the replacements haven’t allowed us to drop too much. Some of the guys returning from last year are playing pretty well…not where they were to finish the season. If they can pick it up we’ll be even better.”
SIDE OUTS: The WolfPack juggled their lineup, replacing Kyle Donen (3rd year, White Rock, BC) at libero in favour of Collin Gordon (3rd year, Calgary, Alta). Robin Schoebel (3 rd year, outside hitter, Monaco) didn’t see the floor this weekend recovering from a wonky knee.