Selkirk College Women Face National Champs at UBC-O

It is now two weeks into their young season and the Selkirk College women are still searching for their first win. This past weekend they had the daunting task of playing UBC-O, national defending champions and the consensus #1 ranked team in the country. It was the type of weekend that had the potential to be a disaster, albeit at least quick. It is not uncommon in volleyball for a strong team to dispatch their weaker opposition quickly. 

However, this weekend in Kelowna it was an experience that the Saints’ women were determined to avoid, and avoid they did. With scores of 11-25, 16-25, 16-25 on Friday and 19-25, 12-25, 16-25 on Saturday, at the very least, they received a measure of respect from UBC-O for their aggressive approach to the game as well as their sustained “fight” from the beginning right through to the end.

According to coach Joe Moreira, “We played respectful of UBC-O’s experience and talent, but not in awe, an attitude that is often accompanied by a lack of effort. Our approach was that we were going to play our game on our side of the court. We know that they can’t run under the net to interfere with our play!”

Beyond the obvious comparison between David and Goliath, this was an opportunity to test skills against the best. Coach Joe Moreira expects that the UBC-O match will help them become better prepared to host Camosun this Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov.14. He states, “We recognize that playing UBC-O is really a match that we hope to earn their attention and respect, but playing Camosun is a team that we need to be hungry to beat”.

Action starts at 6:00 pm on Friday and 1:00 pm on Saturday with both of the women’s matches followed by the men.

First published on November 09, 2009