Consistent and confident

(Nick Pearce Photo)

When you have won 21 consecutive Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championships it is probably a safe bet to say your team is consistent. Consistency has always been a major component of the Dalhousie Tigers men’s volleyball program. It's consistently ranked in top 10 nationally, consistently the cream of the crop in AUS league play, and consistently able to recruit top volleyball players from all over Canada, players like Scarborough, Ontario’s Jeff Weiler.

Some of that trademark consistency could be missing this season with Mr. Weiler’s graduation last May. He played five seasons for the Tigers and was their star player at the key position of libero. For the uninitiated, the libero is a defensive specialist who freely subs in and out of the game, but is not allowed to serve or to attack the ball above the net.

“The libero is definitely a position that requires a different skill set, its mainly a passing first and defence second type role, and if the libero is having an off day in one of those areas he’ll feel like he’s not able to contribute”, explains Tigers head coach Dan Ota. “So in that sense it’s a lot like a hockey goalie who has one main job, other players in hockey can defend, score goals, body check, so if you’re having a bad day shooting, you can still help the team.” 

With the position being that specialized it does take a certain mindset and commitment to team play for an athlete to excel as a libero. “We were very fortunate to have Jeff as a Tiger for five years” says Mr. Ota. “He was an outstanding member of our program, the best players at his position in the country, an excellent student, and I believe well known and well liked all across campus, he was a very positive guy all the time.”

With Mr. Weiler’s departure, Mr. Ota now recognizes his does have a hole to fill: “You never fully realize what someone like Jeff brings to your program until they are gone ... but that being said we have three potential candidates who are more than capable of stepping in and contributing in that role.”

Fourth year outside hitter Paul Richer, as well as first year players Graeme Higgins and Travis Maclean are all expected to see time at the libero position. Richer has some experience at the varsity level playing occasionally at libero to give Weiler a rest, while Higgins and Maclean have both played it in high school and on provincial teams in Ontario. Mr. Ota says the libero-by-committee plan has its advantages, “Richer will get some time there so we can get him into more matches, Higgins who normally plays left side is coming off a shoulder injury, and Maclean has provincial team experience.”

The loss of Mr. Weiler may be having an immediate effect on the Tigers who have already dropped a league match to rival University of New Brunswick (UNB). Mr. Ota thinks it’s more a case of UNB being stronger and not a sign of a decline in the Dalhousie program. “Definitely I think we still have a very strong team, and I think UNB is stronger this year.” The CIS rankings back him up as Dalhousie and UNB are both ranked in the top ten nationally.

As usual Dalhousie is on a year long preparation for the CIS championship in February, but Mr. Ota says he doesn’t look that far ahead. “At this point in the year we don’t get caught up in results too much, certainly we want to win and we are not happy about losing, but we want to keep moving in the right direction towards our goal. We don’t look past any opponents, and everyone on the team knows there is no trip to nationals without winning the AUS title first.” He thinks the 21 straight titles may have some thinking that league play doesn’t count for much, “Its not easy to win the AUS title, and I think some people may be forgetting that in the nineties UNB had a very strong program and it was far from a sure thing that Dal would be able to beat them.”

Mr. Ota is right about complacency hurting a team, but in this case it may be the fans that are being complacent, after all it’s been quite a while since anyone’s gone to a league match and not seen the Tigers dominate. However a stronger UNB team as well as hosting an interlocking tournament with the university teams from Quebec should make for more exciting and unpredictable volleyball at Dalplex this winter, and that is worth sacrificing a bit of consistency for.

Next: Dal Tigers Men's Volleyball team faces Laval on Friday, Nov. 23; Sherbrooke on Saturday, Nov. 24; and Montreal on Sunday, Nov. 25.
Read: Valuable veterans replaced with hungry youngsters in The Daily News
Link: Dal Tigers Men's Volleyball