The Huskies — who will open up U Sports Canada West conference play Friday (6 p.m.) night and Saturday afternoon (3 p.m.) against the provincial rival University of Regina Cougars — will feature a number of new faces in the line-up.
Make way for a new-look University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s volleyball squad.
The Huskies — who will open U Sports Canada West conference play Friday night (6 p.m.) and Saturday afternoon (3 p.m.) against the provincial rival University of Regina Cougars — will feature some new faces in the lineup.
“We definitely had a pretty good change or turnover from last year, so lots of new faces and we definitely got a lot younger,” says Huskies head coach Mark Dodds, whose team missed the playoffs with an 8-16 record last season.
“It was a different pre-season than we had last year, where we had a little more success. We didn’t have as much this year, but lots of learning and figuring out kind of who we are and who we’re going to be this year. We’re definitely starting to find our stride here in the last couple of weeks, so things are feeling pretty good.”
DOG DEPARTURES
One notable departure is setter Sophia Magus, a former national junior team member, who has transferred to the University of Alberta Pandas.
“That’s part of the world that we live in with sports, especially with college sports,” noted Dodds. “They get the choice where they want to play, so she chose that she didn’t want to be here anymore, so we wish her the best as she moves on to her next chapter.”
Mandi Fraser, Devyn Ethier and Julia Sprentz, who also played key roles in the past, are also gone, along with Jolene Sibley, Annika Radke and Naya Velijkovic-Nychka.
THE RETURNEES
Keely Anderson, Tielle Hagel, Jessica Bergstrom, Rosetta Cyr, Abbey Klein, Taryn Hannah, Julia Howell Bournier, Haley Poier, Julia Tregobov, Abby Hanson, Ashley Thoms and Jordan Wallace are among the returnees from last season.
“More than in the years past, I truly think we’re going to have, and need to have, seven to nine players that really contribute and probably any one of those seven to nine can be the star player on any given match or weekend,” says Dodds.
NEW FACES
Among the newcomers are setter Jordyn Smyth, outside hitter Ella Milne, an Australian transfer student from Hofstra University, and Saskatoon Holy Cross product Gabrielle Flaman.
They are joined by Norah Matthews, Aidan Woloshyn and Mackenzie Lyburn.
THE KEY PLAYERS
“Keely Anderson is going to be a key player,” says Dodds. “Ella Milne, our opposite, is going to have a big role. Gabby Flaman, coming in as a rookie, is going to take on a big role and hopefully solidify our Libero position for us,
“We’re really young in the middle. Jess Bergstrom, in her second year, is looking to be kind of our lead middle and carry the workload there. There’s a bunch of names there and, again, we’re going to have some good depth and some good consistency across the board so I’m excited to see them, some different names each weekend kind of pop up and help our team to some victories.”
Anderson will be flanked by Cyr, Hannah and Klein on the left side.
“We’ve got a bit of a battle going on for who’s going to be on the floor,” notes Dodds. “We’ve had some injuries leading into this year so things have sort shaken themselves out in the pre-season fairly easily, but everyone’s back healthy now, so going into the season it’s kind of good timing. Our practices are at a high level and the competition is going to be real healthy for us to be successful this season.”
SEASON OUTLOOK
Dodds says he’s “full of excitement” heading into the season.
“We definitely have a lot of potential. We’re kind of finding our form here. There’s been lots of growth through the pre-season. I’m excited to see us go through the regular season and see how far we can get in terms of that growth, but I definitely think we can play and compete with any team in the Canada West. We have the size. We have the skill. We’ve just got to go out there and connect the two.”
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