Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
Lisa Barclay will compete in the Pan-American Cup in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (FILE PHOTO)
Lisa Barclay is moving on up the ranks in the Canadian women’s volleyball program.
Last summer, Barclay made the national ‘B’ team that finished 11th at the World University (FISU) Games in China.
The 6-foot-2 Brandonite, who just finished her second season with the UBC Thunderbirds, will be back in a Canadian jersey next month as she made the national ‘A’ team that will compete in the Pan-American Cup in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico from July 11-21.
"It hasn’t really sunk in yet," said Barclay, who averaged 2.74 kills per set with the CIS champion Thunderbirds last season and was named MVP at the national championship.
"It’s a huge step to where I want to be and I’m sure it will be a great experience and gaining some more international time."
It was a long road for the 12 players who were named to Canada’s travelling team. They started out the grind in May when 49 players — including Brandon University Bobcat setter Kellie Baker — were invited to a tryout in Winnipeg.
From there, the coaches cut the number of players to 34 and worked on fundamentals with them for a couple weeks before dividing them into teams to play scrimmages.
Barclay, who feels more confident with her ball control after her month with the national coaching staff in Winnipeg, wanted to make the travelling team as there is no tournament for the ‘B’ team to play this summer.
That meant the training for the other 22 women ended on Saturday when head coach Arnd Ludwig announced the final roster. Roblin’s Kristi Hunter was the final cut, but Ludwig said she will be the first player brought in if one of the other 12 can’t make it to Mexico.
Now that Barclay has reached her goal, the 20-year-old outside hitter knows her summer will become a lot busier.
The team is practising today and tomorrow before taking a break until July 3 when they get together in Winnipeg to prepare for exhibition games against Argentina at the University of Manitoba on the July 7 weekend and for the Pan Am Cup.
Now Barclay is hoping she can earn some court time in Mexico and make an impact with the team, which she knows could be tough.
"It’s incredible to be on a team with four other amazing athletes that are in my position. It’s mind-boggling," she said.
"I just really want to be in the atmosphere and take the experience in. I’m not expecting a lot of playing time, but I’m hoping to get in there a little bit."
However, Ludwig said if she can continue playing as well as she did this last month, then she will find herself on the court.
"She had a really good camp and she did very well, especially in her tuck (jump)," he said. "I think because we … didn’t qualify for London, this year is the year where we try to evaluate more players. This and the next year is more finding players and we’ll try to get everyone playing time to see how they compete on the international level."
» cjaster@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition June 25, 2012
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Lisa Barclay is moving on up the ranks in the Canadian women’s volleyball program.
Last summer, Barclay made the national ‘B’ team that finished 11th at the World University (FISU) Games in China.
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Lisa Barclay is moving on up the ranks in the Canadian women’s volleyball program.
Last summer, Barclay made the national ‘B’ team that finished 11th at the World University (FISU) Games in China.
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