By: Sean Crocker, BA'18
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The St. Thomas University Tommies will face the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves in both men's and women's Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball playoff action this weekend in Truro.
The women's team will see the Seawolves in the quarterfinals on Friday, while the men will take on the Saint John squad Saturday in the seminfinals.
Last year, it was the Seawolves who finished behind the Tommies men's team as ACAA silver medalists, losing in five sets in their home gym.
This year, the Tommies will need to be strong at the net and contain the Seawolves' offence if they want to advance to the championship final.
"We just need to be aware of their middle," Tommies head coach Francis Duguay said. "They scored a lot against us this year and we will only win if we contain them."
The Tommies topped the Seawolves in their first two match ups, but went on to lose the season series 3-2.
Duguay said the Tommies will look to attack from various positions this weekend in order to keep their offence unpredictable.
"We hope to generate points out of various positions," he said. "That will make us unpredictable, and if we can keep their middle guessing that will be better for us."
The women's team fell to the Seawolves 3-1 the last time the two teams clashed, and Tommies head coach Don McKay said they need to be disruptive at the net to take UNBSJ out of their sets.
"They like to run a fast shooting offence in the middle, so our setter and right side players need to be ready to block," he said. "The key to containing them, and any team, is to get a good first pass and be able to run our offensive options."
Passing and serving have been vital for the young Tommies team, who enter the playoffs as the fifth seed with a record of 9-12 on the season. McKay said that will continue to be the focus this weekend, as well as controlling the pace of the game.
"Passing and serving will be our main focus, but I also think we can be stronger than them at the net. We need to play well up front in order to be successful," he said.
"Making them move on defense will be important for us, and if we serve and pass well we will be successful this weekend."