Cougars chase first trip to volleyball nationals

Kiera Virgo is part of an unusual group at Assiniboine College.

The middle blocker may be part of the largest crop of third-year student-athletes the program has seen — and definitely the most competitive.

Virgo is back for one more season, as hungry as ever to reach the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national tournament.

This year, it’s as attainable as ever. The Providence Pilots are hosting the event in Niverville, meaning the defending Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference champions already have a spot and another is available for the remaining three teams.

“It’s really exciting,” Virgo said ahead of Friday’s home opener. “We have a really deep team, we’re all super strong. Even if we put our rookies on, they’re all super strong and we just get along really well as a team and play well together.

“Having all the girls together, we’ve grown really strong as a team, especially outside of the court too. Forming those relationships really helps on the court as well.”

The Cougars get their first look at the defending champs right off the bat as the Pilots roll into AC’s Victoria East campus gym on Friday at 6 p.m.

Virgo and Heather Brost are back as starters in the middle, while Binscarth native Kylee Peake has one more season as well. The outside hitter was named a CCAA all-Canadian last season, finishing second in the MCAC with 2.91 kills per set.

“(The middles) have done well and again now in their third year, you have higher expectations for both of them in terms of understanding blocking. Providence is going to put some pressure on our block defence … so they’re going to be critical to our success,” said Cougars head coach Kevin Neufeld.

“(Peake) does so many little things as well. A lot of people look at her attack stats and that’s what gets her some recognition, but she does a lot of little things.”

Assiniboine has Virden product Jordyn Bradbury back for a third year at libero, with one more third-year in opposite Marie Dunster, who Neufeld said may have been the team’s best player during the pre-season.

Celina Toews is currently slated at the second outside hitter spot, with second-year setter Tyra Lasuik locked in to run the offence.

“She’s such a great athlete,” Neufeld said. “She brings an offensive side that most setters don’t and she’s really eliminated the — I’ll use the word — ‘Oh my God’ sets, and her consistency and ball placement has improved, something you’d expect when someone gets a little bit older.”

AC finished 8-10 last year, one win behind Canadian Mennonite University. That meant a road trip for a single-elimination semifinal, which the Cougars lost before the Pilots bounced the Blazers 2-0 in the best-of-three final.

This season, the top seed hosts the final series, the second seed hosts the semifinal, and if one of the top two teams is Providence, both are headed to nationals.

“Our goal is to win the league and not have to worry about getting through the playoffs to get to nationals,” Neufeld said.

Neufeld liked what he saw from his team in the pre-season, which included wins over Briercrest College, Keyano College, Northwestern Polytechnic and Dakota College at Bottineau.

While Peake shouldered a heavy load last year, he expects the rest of the lineup to catch up a bit.

“Our style would just be balanced,” Neufeld said. “I think we have a little bit more depth of scoring this year.

“And we work hard. We keep the ball alive, we’re running balls down and we’re going to play as hard as we can every point.”

COUGARS MEN ENTER REBUILD

The Cougars made a push for a spot at men’s volleyball nationals last year as the Pilots hosted, but came up one win shy as the Blazers knocked them out in the semifinal.

AC went 8-10 under the power of a veteran group, including senior Noah Barcellona. But a big chunk of the team moved on, leaving coach Dan Ashfield some work to do to return to title contention.

“It’s a whole new group, especially the starting lineup, but I think those core guys from last year looked up to those older guys,” Ashfield said.

“We’re ready to improve and learn from our mistakes and experiences.”

Naturally, a few second-years will see big jumps in playing time this season. They’ll lean on guys like outside hitter Nathaniel Berube and libero Josh Gamache, who saw solid time as rookies.

They’ll also roll out plenty of first-years like setter John Balmaceda, who played for Crocus Plains a few years ago but took last year off.

“Really good athlete,” Ashfield said. “He’s been through the volleyball system for quite some time and he’s ready to get back into the game and has a lot of connection with these guys.”

Russell product Rylan Kiliwnik should see a jump in court time in the middle, playing alongside rookie Ethan Olson, who started for both the Neelin Spartans and Brandon Volleyball Club provincial championship teams in his senior year.

The Cougars have a unique addition on the outside in Haile-Emmanuel Turney from Barbados.

“He’s got lots of experience himself with the volleyball world and brings that knowledge and expertise to the guys that are learning to handle the mental side of things,” Ashfield said.

The Cougars went winless in five pre-season matches, with the highlight being a five-set loss to Olds College.

AC follows the opener against Providence with three straight matches against CMU, including Nov. 14 at home.

The Cougars host the St. Boniface Les Rouges on Nov. 28-29 before the Christmas break, with a heavier home schedule in the second semester.

The regular season ends on Feb. 14 at home, with playoffs starting the following week.

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