Image Credit: TRU WolfPack Athletics/Greg Mason

By Adam Donnelly

CANADA WEST WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Slovakian-born Palkovicova contributing big for TRU WolfPack women’s volleyball

Dec 22, 2022 | 2:50 PM

KAMLOOPS — If you find yourself at a TRU WolfPack volleyball game in the New Year, keep your eye on number sixteen in white, Ema Palkovicova. She’s in her first year for the TRU WolfPack women’s volleyball team.

The Canada West rookie sits fifth overall in the conference with kills, and fourth in the conference in points. She’s been a solid addition to a team that has already more than doubled its wins from last year.

“I mean, I love volleyball,” Plakovicova says. “Just being here in this league, where every game is a challenge, I completely enjoy it. Because of last season, I’m very confident on the court, so even if I screw up a few balls, I just forget it, immediately, and just look forward.”

That confidence is well founded. The 6’ outside hitter comes to TRU via the professional club VK Slavia EU Bratislava, where she played with WolfPack setter Abby Spratt in 2021–22. She’s been pleasantly surprised by the level of play in CanadaWest this season.

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“The game we had against Saskatchewan, all the girls didn’t give up,” Palkovicova explains. “This is what I like – girls here don’t give up, and you have to keep yourself even above them, so you can win. Otherwise, they will not give you anything for free.”

For interim head coach Behlul Yavasgel, the ability to plug a player with Palkovicova’s skillset into the lineup has made things easier for him.

“Ema is a big part of our team, on offence especially, and the serving line,” Yavasgel says. “The position she plays is a point scorer type of position, so she fits into that position very well.”

Yavasgel came to Kamloops when he was just 18 years old from Turkey, so he understands the challenges an international student-athlete can face. He’s also been around the program for a long time and believes Palkovicova could be one of the best to ever don a WolfPack jersey.

“Ema’s a complete package in that sense. She’s a complete player. She never misses assignments. She’s still a rookie, at the end, and skill level, she’s a very dynamic right-side,” Evangel says. “I think she’ll have some sort of record at the end of her career, we’ll look back and say ‘Look at those numbers.’ She’ll definitely have her name written somewhere on the board – hard to say if it’s aces, or points, or kills, but she’ll definitely be up there.”

And if you watch the WolfPack in action, and Ema gets a kill – she’ll let you know how pumped up she gets.

“If you kill the ball in the middle of the court and you don’t scream, I will tell you scream!” Ema says. “That’s me, and volleyball is my passion, and I’m here to kill the ball. Every time I kill the ball, and it’s a good kill, it’s my point and I’m just so excited.”

”It’s good energy,” Yavasgel says. “We build on it. She’s on fire, we throw more wood on it, y’know?”