Women's volleyball takes preseason gold
When asked about the ability of his team this season, Head Coach Tim Louks does not just give the typical cliché responses. Rather, he gives a run-through of what they were like last season, and what improvements have been made that have gotten them to where they are, and what they are now - a CIS medal contending team.
The Marauders swept the competition in a field of highly competitive teams at the Preseason Gee-Gees Classic in Ottawa this past weekend- which is a tournament that hosts some of the most dominant teams in the OUA and AUS, but these powerhouse teams were no match for the Maroon and Grey, who won all of their matches in the tournament.
“It’s just a building block, for sure it’s a building block, it’s part of a larger plan” said Louks.
“We had a vision of what we wanted to try and accomplish through the course of the tournament, and, as I say, the girls all the time would play to win, all the time.”
And this was no overstatement. The Marauders made it to the semi-final by toppling over the Brock Badgers, the Sherbrooke Vert-et Or, and the St. Mary’s Huskies - a powerful team that was runner-up last year in the AUS finals.
Louks was proud of the team’s win, and thinks they will only get better and more skilled, as the members prioritize to improve in their game.
“I believe the players have lots of opportunity to address some of their, sort of, individual agendas, which is sort of going to keep making us deeper in terms of skill and stuff like that, so, it was a great win.”
The team made the trek to Winnipeg two weeks before, where they managed to come home with a bronze medal while up against some fierce Canada West competition. In the eyes of coach Louks, they have already made some big steps in improving from the tournament, just one week later.
One of these big steps has included the team-building that has taken place from spending time with one another, both on and off of the court
“As a group, as a team…they’re still looking, still building an identity for this year what the team is kind of going to anchor itself on; they’re getting to appreciate each other a little bit, and those are the things… just bumping shoulders, and connecting, and going on bus trips, and plane rides… It’s a necessary thing to occur,” said Louks.
In terms of supporting one another, and creating positive energy for the team, Louks thinks that he is working alongside some great personas and student athletes that all seem to be getting along well as a team unit
“It’s probably the most collected group I’ve seen in a long, long time,” added Louks.
Other than the bonding of the team, the biggest difference of this year’s team for Coach Loukts are the players that have graduated, and the players that have come in, that have made the team younger, and deeper overall.
Out of these young players, Louks has named five to the roster that have all contributed on the court in the preseason tournaments
“Carly Heath was on the floor as a libero - first year out of Calgary in the fifth set against St.Mary’s…Sophie Bukovec played, Maciee Sorrensen played, Joanna Jedrzejewska played, the only player that didn’t get minutes but played in the semi-final was Caitlin Genovy, and that’s predominantly because we have three setters, and two of them are fifth years so she’s going to have to be patient in that,” said Louks on the depth of the rookies.
Although Coach Louks is the head coach of a dominant team, he understands the stresses and challenges that they will face down the road that may interfere with the season - but he does not want these challenges to get in the way of the primary goal: which is and always has been, to win a provincial and national championship.
“Few, if any will be pro, few if any will go national level, but all will compete at the university level if they choose to and graduate out of here and life will trump the game, and we get it, that’s the priority” said Louks.
The team will prepare to do well, and win key matches with the help of some standout performers that were recognized in the Gee-Gee tournament as MVP’s
“Certainly the recognition needs to go to all of them because they all had played. If you look match to match situations, everybody got opportunities,” said the former Canadian men’s national volleyball player.
The team will now look forward to an exhibition game on Thursday at the Thanksgiving Classic at the Burridge Gym, before they tackle the rest of their season that kicks off Oct, against the familiar Ryerson Rams - the same team that knocked the Marauders out of the quarterfinals last season.
But this season will be different from last. Coach Louks knows that there will be no disappointment, as there may have been in previous seasons. He is confident in the abilities and progress of his team, and believes that the idea of an OUA and CIS medal is not far out of reach.
The Marauders exciting season gets underway on Oct. 19. in the Burridge Gym.
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