Cougars ready for break
Nov. 23, 2009 - Regina Leader-Post
By Tim Switzer
The University of Regina Cougars men's volleyball team got just the break it needed -- a 47-day one.
Following Regina's 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-18) loss to the Alberta Golden Bears on Friday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport, the Cougars will not play another regular-season game until Jan. 8 when they play host to the UBC Thunderbirds.
"We're looking forward to the break as an opportunity to get stronger and healthy and work out a few details," said head coach Greg Barthel. "Really, where we are with injuries and people being sick (the break) is not a bad thing. It gives us a little extra time for guys to recover."
Middle Leon Dyck (calf) has been sidelined since the second game of the season, outside hitter Mathew Brooks has been playing with an injured shoulder all season and backup setter Caleb Eschbach recently developed a neck problem. Others still have had to sit out parts of the first half of the season with various injuries or the flu.
"I can't remember a time where we've had our whole group at practice," said Barthel.
The break may also give the Cougars (0-8) an opportunity to work on new offensive schemes that use 6-foot-3 Jamie Wilkins in the middle -- partly due to the loss of Dyck, but also to get more passers on the floor.
The move did not make a big difference against the No. 3-ranked Golden Bears (6-2) on Saturday. Thomas Jarmoc had 11 kills for the Bears and Jason DeRocco added 10. Brooks and Taylor Anderson led the Cougars with seven kills each while Wilkins and Colin Finch had six apiece. Wilkins also had six digs.
Despite being a few inches shorter than most middles in university volleyball, Wilkins has spent time there during most of his three-year Cougars career.
"We've been toying around with (the new offences) and they work well when they're executed well," said Wilkins, who has started the last three matches at middle. "It gives the guys on the other side of the net something new to see, but for us it's just about getting more passers out there.
"I've been playing middle for a long time -- played it all through high school -- so I'm comfortable in the middle or on the left side."
"We've always said that Jamie would be a top-notch CIS middle if he was four inches taller," added Barthel. "He reads so well and he's quick and that's what the roots of a good middle are. It does make us a little smaller, but it does make it better in our athleticism out there."
With Wilkins' height not likely to change any time soon, the Cougars plan to spend the next month and a half preparing for a second-half schedule that does not get much easier than the first. Seven of the teams currently ranked in the CIS Top 10 play in Canada West and the Cougars face four of them (in a total of eight games) after the holiday/exam break.
"A lot of mental work goes into this long stretch because a couple weeks without volleyball is going to affect our game," said Wilkins.
