Image Credit: TRU Athletics/Allen Douglas

By Adam Donnelly

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

WolfPack WVB is having fun and winning games through first half of season

Dec 2, 2022 | 12:05 PM

KAMLOOPS — If you spend any time watching the TRU WolfPack women’s volleyball team practice, it’s pretty evident they’re having a good time.

“Volleyball is about fun,” second-year middle Faith Christensen explains. “We’re doing a sport that we love, that’s why we’re in USports volleyball, so I think that’s a big part of it. It gets the energy going, which makes you have momentum into the game, so having fun is a big part of it, for sure.”

There’s music blasting at practice, players are dancing, and there’s plenty of positive talk and high fives. That approach has become part of the team culture for this Wolfpack squad.

“You have some teams that take it super seriously, like Trinity [Western University], but where’s the fun in that?” fifth-year outside hitter Siobhan Toal asks. “I think it’s so fun to see each other smile and laugh. I feel like that’s how we show each other support. I know if I turn around and I see all my girls have my back, I think it’s very important.”

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So far, that formula seems to be working. The WolfPack have won five matches and lost five matches this season, and sit in a log jam in the Canada West standings. For interim coach Behlul Yavasgel, that’s right where they need to be as they approach the winter break.

“My goal is to always make the playoffs, but more than that, it’s to play the game as entertaining and as fun as possible and stay true to our core and our training, and it will pay off,” Yavasgel says. “We don’t play to win, we just do our thing and eventually the game comes. We don’t chase it.”

For veteran players like Siobhan Toal, that approach is working for a team that is still ironing out the kinks and getting to know one another on the court.

“I’ve seen so much growth, even since our first game against Brandon,” Toal says. “If you look at UBCO, the game that we won, everyone was so connected and on, and I think that we’re slowly becoming more consistent with every game.”

There are three teams with 6 wins and 4 losses in Canada West, and another five sitting with five wins and five losses. With so little separation in the standings, the ‘Pack knows they’ll have to find a way to win some matches as they head into the second half.

“This league is so tight this year, we have all the teams that are really close, you know, neck and neck,” Christensen says. “It’s just about whose building to push more and who wants it more. This weekend is definitely big, we’ve got to come through with good games this weekend.”

Game time in Calgary for the women is 6:45 pm on Friday and 6:00 pm on Saturday.