The last time the St. Thomas University men’s and women’s volleyball teams were in action was last February. Back then, the teams took part in the 2024 Atlantic Collegiate Athletics Association (ACAA) playoffs. In the playoffs, the women fell short in the quarterfinals in straight sets to Holland College. The men’s team captured the ACAA championship, defeating the Université Sainte Anne (UStA) Dragons in four sets.
Fast forward almost seven months since the playoffs and the teams have shifted their focus to the new season. Although the teams have retooled for the season ahead, the ambitions have stayed the same.
The season kicked off on Oct. 26 and 27. During the home opener weekend, both teams achieved mixed results.
The men’s team lost both games against UStA. The team dropped the first game 3-0 and the second 3-1.
Meanwhile, the women’s team defeated the Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) Mystics 3-2 on Saturday, following the victory up with a dominating 3-0 victory over UStA Sunday morning.
“We wanted the [two wins]. The Saturday game, we came out hot and slowed down after the first set and then Sunday, we played a lot better,” said Brenton Romanchuk, a third-year outside hitter.
“We learned a lot from that weekend, we still have a lot of quirks to work out on our team. We would have liked at least one win, but we made some progress and learned a lot about ourselves.”
For Romanchuk and his teammates, there were some parts of the home opener weekend where the squad can continue to exploit and improve throughout the season, despite collecting a pair of losses. Those parts included serving and blocking.
Romanchuk even went as far as to call the Tommies a “blocking team.”
“When we could get the ball up and Raph could get a good set on it, good things happened and then if our serves are going in, we’re a very hard team to play against,” he said. “We have a strong serving team this year.”
A few areas of weaknesses in the home opener weekend that the team could work on and improve throughout the season.
“We [will] try to improve on our passing [and] our ball controls. With a good pass, we can run our whole offense and that’s gonna be important for us this year, as we’ll rely on our middles a lot for offense.”
Romanchuk also felt there is an extra bit of pressure this season, as the team is the reigning ACAA champions. Much of that pressure came with the territory, as the program has been operating successfully for a long time. As a result, Romanchuk felt teams in the league constantly wants to beat the Tommies, putting a “target on their back.”
“I think when everyone’s playing at their best, no one can touch us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the women’s team is going into a season headlined by several changes to the team.
Julia Campbell, a fourth-year setter, thought a five-set win was a great way to start the season. She said that earning victories in five sets was something the team focused on in the offseason, as the team had some “tough losses” in five-set matches last season.
Last season, the team went 3-6 in five-set games.
“Something we really wanted to work on this season was sticking it out and maintaining a good pace, calmness on the court and just sticking to what we know, even when we’re losing,” said Campbell. “So, winning a five-set match was [a] really important goal for us, and I’m proud of how we executed.”
Campbell also has high hopes for the team this season, saying that the squad’s practices have been “really focused” early in the season. On top of that, she said the team is starting to form a good bond and energy with one another, which she hopes will carry over and maintain throughout the season to help the squad get “one per cent” better each day.
“Obviously, having two wins is nice, but we know that [it] doesn’t come easy and we need to battle every weekend for those wins,” said Campbell. “I think it’s just about maintaining confidence in ourselves and trying to keep that going for the season.”
