The volleyball season is back across all Canadian universities. The Wolfpack Women’s Volleyball is off on the road, playing against the Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton this Friday.
The ‘Pack is excited to have their head coach, Chad Grimm, back for this season. Before the 2022-23 season, Grimm embarked on a year-long break to travel around Europe. During his absence, the team was coached by Behlul Yavasgel.
“It gave me a good opportunity to reflect on the program and how we do things in TRU. I had time to think about how to build the program out a bit. During the season, they start to go into trading water a bit. So, that year differently gave me time to have a deep dive into the program. Also, to set up some things for the year.”
“Last year, I was away. My schedule was super flexible. Even got a sneak peek of retired life. It’s good to be back on campus, to see the energy of the players, and just to be back with the team,” Grimm said.
During his time away four seniors graduated and left the team allowing a number of rookies to join. “First things, I’m trying to build a relationship with the girls and understand where they’re coming from and what they value. I’m thinking of a plan for how we’re going to be successful this year. That’s my main focus right now,” Grimm said.
“I think having Chad back is awesome. We all love Chad so much, and he’s a big part of TRU in general. So, it’s super nice to have him back,” said the middle blocker, Faith Christensen. Grimm is also happy to be back on campus.
“I love volleyball so much that I’m always excited about a new season,” Christensen said. Christensen is a third-year middle majoring in Psychology and minoring in Biology. “We have a really young team that has been working together for a long time now. We’re getting some age and some experience in there, which I think is going to be super beneficial for us,” Christensen said.
“Obviously, losing a lot of our seniors last year was determined to us, but I think we can make it work. We have a lot of new faces coming in as well and a lot more experience. So could it be positive? Could it be negative? We’ll see how it goes,” Christensen said.
“We lost so many seniors last year. So, now we’re all kind of in the same age group. I feel like we don’t necessarily have that super hierarchy of like a fifth-year versus the first year. I would honestly say that all of us are kind of equals, and we kind of like to treat each other that way. Obviously, there’s a little bit more experience as opposed to a little bit less experience. But I think that everyone’s kind of on the same wavelength.”
“We love seeing faces come out to our games, and we love the support. So, make sure to visit us at our games,” Christensen said. Any interested spectators are encouraged to come out and watch the season opener at The Den in Campus Activity Center on Friday.
The first home opener will be on Oct. 27 against the Calgary Dinos at TCC. Make sure to cheer for your team.
Wolfpack is sitting in eighth place in the preseason coaches poll, with 79 points. Ema Palkovicova is mentioned as the key performer for the team. Go Wolfpack!