WVB  SEE TOUGH CHALLENGE AHEAD IN 09

For immediate Release: December 12, 2008

Kamloops-What do you do when you’ve equalled your total wins from the previous season in the first half of the year? Well, you look to achieve a higher goal.  That is the expectation that the interim head coach of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s volleyball team has.  Cal Wohlford looks back at the first half of the 2008-09 Canada West season as one where his squad did some growing but has much more to accomplish.

“I’m not really looking at what they (the WolfPack) did last year,” he says.  “It’s a brand new coach and they’ve been learning a lot of new systems. It’s unfair to compare.  I just look at what we should have accomplished this first semester and I think although we are still in the hunt, I think there were two matches that I thought we should have done better at. We can’t dwell on that….we’ll need more wins in the second half.”
TRU finished the first half with a 4 and 8 record, good enough for 8 th spot. They are two points back of the final playoff spot. 
As a team, the first half highlight has to be a weekend sweep of Winnipeg in late November.  If he could point to a low light—it would have been their final Friday night home match of the first half against Saskatchewan (Nov 28 th, the Huskies won in three straight). 
“We weren’t on the game plan. We weren’t doing what we were suppost to do. I thought Saskatchewan was very composed.  If we would have played with more emotion we would have swept them.”

Unlike a lot of the power house teams in the Canada West, TRU had to play the first few weeks of the year without two of their top players.  Michella Domo (2nd year middle, New Westminster, BC)  and Anna Dyakiewicz (2nd year, outside hitter, Burnaby, BC)  couldn’t join the team until they had fulfilled their one year eligibility requirements after playing in the NCAA.  Dyakiewicz has made an instant impression. She is fifth in the Canada West in kills (80 for aper game average of 3.20) and sits seventh in the league in points (averaging 3.50 per game).

Wohlford believes that his club is still looking for a true leader.  “We have people who united our group a bit more, but I think we are struggling in that aspect.  Sometimes on a team you have one leader—sometimes you have five or six.  I think we are one of those clubs. We are looking for someone to start that.  It’s one of our goals for the second half.” Wohlford doesn’t think the leaders have to be a fifth year player but says both Laura Plouffe(libero, Sherwood Park, Alta) and Richelle Walton (outside hitter, Langley, BC) could take up that role believing that they bring something special to the court.
As for an unsung hero on his roster over the first 12 starts,  he is quick to turn to 2nd year outside hitter turned middle Amanda Loree (Armstrong, BC). 

“For sure its her,”  he says.  “She goes out there and does her job in a new position….getting more comfortable with it.  She’s not the big flashy hitter like Michella (Domo) or Lykke (Degner).  But she tries to be involved all the time. It makes a difference. She didn’t get credited for a lot of blocks, but she got a piece of the ball a lot of the time and it developed some offense for us.  That was a big change in the game. A lot of balls aren’t hitting the floor and we are responding well.”
He also credits 4 th year setter Lindsey Niminiken (South Slocan, BC).  “Coming off the bench, she’s been terrific. She wants to be on the court all the time.  When she comes in she knows what to do...especially when we need a kick in the pants and need a run in the fifth set.  It’s key to get someone to come off the bench cold and perform. We need more players like that.”

With all that optimism and progression in development, is a first ever playoff berth in the cards for TRU?
“I think anything is doable,” he says.  “Even when we played Alberta and UBC, there were glimpses that we were growing and getting better as a team.  We were right there with them. If we keep up that learning curve, some good things will happen.   There will definitely be some tough matches ahead.  But what we showed against Saskatchewan on the final weekend before the break is that we can rise to the occasion and meet those challenges. The trick is to start with that challenge.”

The WolfPack play most of their second half matches on the road.  Wohlford believes that they will need four more victories to secure their first ever playoff spot.   With Regina sitting just ahead in the standings, will it come down to a final weekend showdown with the Cougars at home to decide who gets into the post season? .  “ I think it’ll be the matches we start with—Brandon, Trinity, Calgary.  If we can steal some splits there or get a double win, it’ll set us up.   If we don’t  perform in those matches, the final weekend won’t mean anything.”

SERVICE ACES:  Setter Stine Christainsen (2nd year, Ribe, Denmark) is 10 th in the Canada West standings averaging 7.19 assists per game.   Plouffe is 6 th in digs with an average of 3.11 per game.