When the Capilano University women’s volleyball team takes the court for their home opener Friday night, it’s possible that head coach Cal Wohlford will have something in his starting lineup that no PacWest coach has ever had before.
Four somethings, in fact. With setter Sarah Hughes, middle blocker Kolby Richter, right side Kira Sutcliffe and left side Kelsi Boroevich set to take starring roles, the Blues will have four fifth-year players trying to blast their way to glory in their final seasons. Wohlford has been around the league for a while and said he’s never encountered a team with four fifth-year players. He’s happy to be the first.
“When it’s your last year, you want to make it your best year,” he said. “I think we have four girls that have a little bit of that attitude that they want to leave it all on the court. I think that’s driving them, and they’re driving each other. I notice that the four of them are really pushing each other to work hard, and that’s going to make a good atmosphere for the younger players that we have.”
With that veteran presence on the floor, expectations are high for this season. The Blues began their campaign Saturday at University of the Fraser Valley – after driving out to Abbotsford Friday night only to have their season opener postponed due to a power outage – and knocked off the Cascades in straight sets. Looking at the scores, it appeared to be a commanding win, but Wohlford wasn’t about to pat his team on the back too hard.
“We played OK,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it was our best match. For a season opener, we worked some things out and got some things going. … We have a lot of age on our team, a lot of maturity on our team, so I think our bar is set pretty high.”
Taking a look at the bigger picture, Wohlford said it’s encouraging for the university and the volleyball program that players are willing and able to stick around for five years.
“Hopefully it’s a good sign that good athletes want to stay in the program,” he said, adding that the transition from a college to university has made it more feasible for athletes to stay at Capilano for several years, rather than transferring out after one or two seasons.
“The biggest thing that keeps your athletes is definitely the programs in your school,” he said. “Their work ethics are very strong in their educations, they make a lot of decisions because of their educations.”
The five-timers club also includes Wohlford, who took over the program after former coach Wayne Desjardins retired prior to the 2012 season. Wohlford said he feels fortunate to have shared so much time with the fifth-year players, a luxury few coaches get.
“In the PacWest it’s a rare thing,” he said of getting to coach a player for five years. “You enjoy it. You definitely get a good relationship with your players. They understand you and you understand them. It’s going to be a little different (next year) not having those guys around for sure, but right now I’m thinking more about now and I’m enjoying every practice with these guys.”
That veteran presence also helps him run smoother practices, said Wohlford.
“They know what I want,” he said, adding that they’ve figured out one of the crucial parts of his practices: “they laugh at my bad jokes.”
The fifth-year players are also no slouches on the volleyball court. All four are starters, with Sutcliffe earning all-Canadian status last year and Hughes joining Sutcliffe on the PacWest first all-star team.
Richter has been a rock as a starting middle blocker for several seasons while Boroevich returned to the team this year after spending one year playing CIS volleyball at Brock University.
And the Blues are not just a four-woman team. Several other veterans are expected to play leading roles, including third-year middle Danae Shephard, fourth-year libero Abigail O’Neil, and second-year outside hitter Meghan Koven, an Argyle grad who was named to the PacWest all-rookie team last season.
Middle blocker Keeley Bell, another Argyle grad, outside hitter Zoe Mydansky, and left side Tyneille Neufeld are three more second-year players expected to play large roles. There’s also an incoming crop of seven-talented rookies hungry for playing time. The monster roster makes for some tough decisions on game day, but also keeps thing incredibly competitive at practice, said Wohlford.
“We have a pretty strong nine players, and then rookies that we’ve got coming in are extremely talented, and they’re pushing them too,” he said. “It’s hard to keep the new athletes engaged when they don’t get to actually play in the matches. Some of them have to fight through that. I feel our group is very engaged right now and they understand team unity. … They contribute to that because they work so hard at practice.”
Even with all that firepower, success is no sure thing in what is traditionally the toughest league in Canada. The Blues have finished third in each of the past two seasons, upset in the semifinals last year by College of the Rockies.
“Bronze is bittersweet,” said Wohlford. “I think we were a little disappointed last year with our semifinal – we didn’t play as well as we know we could have, and COTR played very well – they played well that whole weekend. Do we feel that there’s some unfinished business? Yes.”
This year the road will be as tough as ever. Camosun College is hosting the national championships, meaning that the rest of the PacWest league will be fighting for just one spot at the Canadian championships. Any team that wants to make nationals will have to go through Vancouver Island University, the defending national champs who also happen to be hosting this season’s PacWest provincial championships.
“It’s not going to be easy, but I don’t think we want it easy,” said Wohlford, adding that those four fifth-year players know exactly what’s at stake. “They know that it’s now or never.”
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The Blues will host the Douglas College Royals this weekend with action starting at 6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday. The women play first with the men to follow.
