Bobcats turning to rookie Larocque in the middle

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This article was published 12/01/2017 (3353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The future will be front and centre on and around the Healthy Living Centre court this afternoon.

Upwards of 1,000 kids from schools in Westman will, like last season’s women’s volleyball national championship, fill the HLC stands for a rare Thursday matinee between the Brandon University Bobcats and University of Regina Cougars volleyball teams beginning at noon.

“It’s a blast,” BU bench boss Lee Carter said. “I look forward to it and the girls are looking forward to it. It’s a lot of fun to play in front of an energized crowd and it makes it special. It reminds the girls that they are idols to a lot of these young women in town. You get into the grind in January and the cold and you forget how fun it is and that all of these girls are coming to watch you and want to understand that they want to be where you are in a few years.”

And although the kids will be watching a match between two teams who will not be making the Canada West playoffs this season — BU is 2-10 and the Cougars are 1-11 — the time to allow youth to shine is now.

Already one of the younger teams in the conference, the Bobcats lost a pair of starters to injury — fifth-year middle Jodie Baker and fourth-year middle Breanne Sytnyk — on Saturday. Baker is gone for the season with a suspected torn anterior cruciate ligament and/or medial collateral ligament in her left knee, while Sytnyk will miss at least the next four matches after suffering a subluxed patella (dislocated knee cap) in her left knee.

First-year player Danielle Larocque, who redshirted last season, will help fill the void in the middle as she will get the first start of her Canada West career against the Cougars.

Larocque has three kills, two digs and has been involved in four blocks in four matches this season. First-year outside hitter Rayvn Wiebe will also start.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Larocque said. “It’s always fun to be able to play in front of your family and friends, especially if you are at home.”

Although replacing the veteran presence and leadership of Baker and Sytnyk is impossible, Larocque brings something different to the court.

“Dani is pretty quick and offensive,” Carter said. “We like the way she gets in the air fast and we are kind of counting on her to be able to chip in for four or five kills (today) and keep their middles honest so that our wing swingers can score and take a little bit of the load off of Court(ney Roberts).

“I think she is up for it. She trained all last year as a redshirt just to get to this point and every time she’s going in she’s been a good player for us so this is fun for her to get a start.”

“Breanne and Jodie are bigger and strong and they hit the ball with a lot of pace and they are able to explore through blocks where Dani’s job is to beat that block up and hit that seam before they are able to form, to score on speed rather than physical strength,” Carter continued.

Larocque knows she can’t necessarily replace Sytnyk or Baker, believing the biggest challenge for her will be communicating with the other Bobcats on the floor.

“They are big shoes to fill but hopefully the girls on the court will help me out,” Larocque said. “The girls are really helpful communicating with you what you need to fix or what is a better shot to hit.”

Regina, which has just two fifth-year players and no fourth-year players on their roster, is under the direction of former BU assistant coach Shane Smith.

“Shane was here last year and it’s the rivalry between Shane and I right now,” Carter quipped. “It’s good to see how that program is coming and developing and it will be a battle of a pretty young lineups on both sides so it will be interesting to see how both teams handle adversity.”

Allie Cantello, a teammate of Bobcat left side Carmen Ross last year at the Virden, is also on the Cougars but is nursing an injury and will not play.

Coming off a sweep at the hands of the University of Alberta Golden Bears, the ninth-ranked Bobcats men’s volleyball squad will look to improve on its 7-5 record against the Cougars (0-12) today at 1:45 and Friday at 7:45 p.m.

ATTACK POINTS: The BU women have won five of the last six regular-season matches between the two schools, although the one Regina victory, 3-1 (26-24, 25-17, 16-25, 25-22), came in the Wheat City on Nov. 28, 2014.

HOOPS: Both Brandon basketball teams will also be in action this weekend at the HLC as the MacEwan University Griffins visit. The women’s contests (Friday at noon, Saturday at 5 p.m.) are critical for both schools as BU (5-7) and MacEwan (4-8) sit 10th and 11th, respectively, just inside the 12-team playoff cutoff. The Bobcat men’s team (4-8) currently sits tied with the UNBC Timberwolves for the 12th and final playoff position, while the Griffins (3-9) are just one game back. Games are Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m.

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