Nationals up next for Cougs
Mar. 1, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
The University of Regina Cougars have realized a nationals dream.
The Cougars qualified for the CIS women's volleyball championship tournament with a 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans in Saturday's bronze-medal game at the Canada West Final Four event in Winnipeg.
It's the first time since 2000 that a U of R women's volleyball team has made it to nationals. The Cougars also reached the tournament in 1990.
Regina will join the UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West gold medallists), Manitoba Bisons (silver medallists) and Alberta Pandas (host team) as Canada West's representatives in the CIS event, Friday through Sunday in Edmonton.
"This particular group decided way back in September-October what it wanted to do this year -- that was to go to nationals -- and they were completely willing to do what it took to make that happen," Regina head coach Melanie Sanford said Saturday from Winnipeg.
"They haven't been wishy-washy about it at all. They've made that commitment and it has paid off. There's now that level of belief that they can be successful."
That attitude carried them through the Final Four.
The Cougars -- who went into the event as the fifth-ranked team in the CIS -- lost in four sets to the No. 1-ranked Thunderbirds in a semifinal Friday, but rebounded to dump the fourth-ranked Spartans less than 24 hours later.
"It was just really great to see the team figure it out," Sanford said. "When you come up against a challenge on the court, it's like problem-solving: 'We have an issue here. We haven't scored a point in a while. Something's not working for us. We have to find a way to figure it out.' This team has done a good job of figuring out a way to win."
Meagan Onstad had 20 kills and 20 digs for the Cougars in Saturday's match. Fifth-year middle Beth Clark added 14 kills and setter Tiffany Herman recorded 52 assists and 10 digs.
Sanford has experience at the CIS championship tournament, having won three straight national titles with the Saskatchewan Huskies in 1978, '79 and '80. She therefore could offer some advice to her charges as they prepare for their first trip to the CIS event.
"I don't know what pearls of wisdom I could offer; I'm so fried right now, it's not funny," she said with a laugh. "Actually, I don't think we're going to do anything differently. That's what I'm going to tell them.
"We've been playing and living under pressure for a while now. I'll talk about not changing what we've been doing, but just performing at a higher level yet to take that next jump."
Inexperience could pose a problem for a team at a national championship tournament, but Sanford isn't worried about that with the Cougars.
"I think there's no stopping this group," she said confidently. "They've set their sights pretty high. Why go that far and just be happy to be there?"