From Sept. 12 to 14, the St. Thomas University men’s volleyball team travelled west for a series of exhibition games.
During the trip, the team played four games. One of those games was against the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks from Alberta and the other three were against the College of the Rockies (COTR) Avalanche from Cranbrook, British Columbia.
Last season, the Kodiaks finished third in their division, losing in the first round to the eventual playoff winners. Lethbridge plays in the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC).
COTR plays in the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PacWest) conference. Last season, the Avalanche finished first place in the conference, only to be upset in the playoffs.
The Tommies only see teams like Lethbridge and COTR at the end of season nationals.
“I think the boys performed quite well. Obviously, it’s the second week of the season, so it’s still early on,” said Alex Frederickson, a fourth-year libero. “The boys showed some strong qualities, especially facing such high talent, with both teams being highly ranked nationally.”
During the team’s trip, the Tommies only won two sets in their four games. Despite the performance, the team planned several team-building activities to help the players get to know one another.
Raph Fiset, a third-year setter and captain of the team, thought that participating in activities helped bring the team together.
“The trip itself was a lot of team time. Given our super busy schedule, we were always with each other. We had to play at least 12 hours of volleyball on this trip,” said Fiset. “So just being there with the guys and then that little Activate activity we did as a team that was super big. The coaches got involved in that as well.”
Apart from team bonding, the trip helped identify some of the strengths and weaknesses for the Tommies as the ACAA season approaches. Some of the team’s strengths included their overall cohesion and togetherness as well as their block and attack skills.
“We have some good tall players, especially in the middle, with Jacob Tratch and Mason Brewster … and we’ll have some heavy swingers on the wings. So, I think our attack will be very good this year,” said Frederickson.
Some of the weaknesses the team took from the trip were their passing defense and having players play out of their natural positions, which Fiset said is getting players ‘out of their comfort zone’ while on the court.
“Being able to play teams like that, that have quality rosters and competitive big guys is crucial for us, because we know what the expectation is for them,” said Fiset. “We can kind of prepare for those games and kind of push ourselves to be at that level now.”
For Fiset, this trip allowed his parents and his family to watch him play as he is from Calgary, Alberta.
“I love seeing my family, and I think they love coming to games. They don’t have that opportunity as much anymore, but whenever they get the chance to and I get the chance to see them at my games, I love that.”
