Thunder Women’s Volleyball Kick Off Exhibition Season
Posted on: Sep 16, 2013
The 2013-2014 Thunder Women's Volleyball season has begun with a trip down to Ambrose College in Calgary for a pair of exhibition matches. Tur team began this year's journey with a camping trip just before the school year began. The women got to know each other quite quickly and learned how to work together through team challenges and games.
This season brings six returning players. Team Captain Bailey Magas has returned for her fourth year. Second year players are setter Cassidy Srogen, middles McKenna Schulte, Dayna Starke and Left Side Madison Baron. Sarah Schwanz returns from Minnesota for her third year.
The Thunder have welcomed seven new players to the roster this year. From St. Albert comes Sarah Karasiuk, a 5'8" Setter. Middle (also at 5'8") Sara Rubuliak and is also from St Albert. Both Sara R and Sarah K played for PARK Club volleyball. NAVC Panda Club brought two more recruits; Shandelle Meyer (5'8") from Stony Plain will give the team more depth at Libero and her teammate Halle Frank (5'6") from Spruce Grove brings consistent strength to the Left Side. Amy Davis (5'10") from Ardrossan brings height to the Left Side and Right Side Rachel Bouma (5'7") from Provost rounds out the Thunder recruits for this year. Concordia Thunder alum Shayna Fairbairn has signed on as the Assistant Coach after spending three season with the Thunder as a Setter. She graduated from Concordia in 2011 with a BA in Applied Psychology and is currently taking her MA in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation with a specialization in Health Psychology at the U of A.
On Friday, the Thunder played their first match of the season at Calgary's Ambrose University College, capturing their first win and defeating the home team Ambrose Lions 3-0 (25-20;25-15;17-25;25-22). The team then went up against the powerfull SAIT Trojans. Although the Thunder started each set strongly, they faltered in the mid game and fell short in straight sets (22-25;17-25;21-25).
Halle Frank was named the first Player of the Game by her teammates. She had a very strong game with 7 kills and 7 digs. Amy Davis and Mackenzie Bouchard Hooker both played well against SAIT. Amy had a strong game with 6 kills, 3 digs and a strong 2.67 serve receive. MacKenzie had a solid game with a 2.1 serve receive and 5 digs. "I'm looking forward to seeing our team grow over the year,' said an enthusiastic Sherri Milne, back for her second season as Head Coach.
