By Davie Wong
Every new season brings a bundle of changes. Going into the 2016-2017 season, the Douglas College Royals women's volleyball team may like quite familiar on the court, but it's the bench that underwent the offseason makeover.
When the season starts on October 14, Jeffrey Ross will be stepping into his first PACWEST game as the head coach of the team. Hired in August, Ross has had but a short time to make changes and adjustments as he prepares for the regular season, but already, the team is looking very different than last year.
The roster for the team contain quite a few familiar faces, as well as some surprises. The Royals have some hefty experience returning this year with PACWEST veterans Julianna Penner and Taylor Bain returning for their fifth year. Third-years Vicki Schley, Lynnea Carr, and Georgia Hurry have also been confirmed for the roster. Autumn Davidson, a member of the 2015-2016 PACWEST All-Rookie team will also be returning, alongside fellow second-year Claudia Corneil.
For a new head coach, coming in and having a set squad of returning veteran players makes the transition an interesting one. For Ross, having veteran players on the team makes training new players a little bit less of a complex task. "It's nice having that big core group of leaders to show the first years what we want to be like and how that style of play is going to happen". The assistance will no doubt be appreciated, as the new head coach has brought in more than a few recruits.
To bolster the roster, Jeff Ross has also added in eight new first year players, including former redshirts, McKenzie Hutchison, and Vania Silva dos Santos de Oliveira. Ross explains his reasoning for the move as one to establish a foundation for himself and the team. "As a new coach coming in, I get to basically lay the foundation for the next three, four, five years. For us this year, we are just one big unit, and it's good to build that foundation".
With a roster size of 14, it may seem that some players may be limited in their time on the court this season. But Coach Ross believes that his roster size will work well with the PACWEST system and will allow for an abundant amount of opportunities for various players this year. "There's going to be a lot of opportunity for people to see the court. Everyone has been working hard and improving a lot, so there's going to be a lot of opportunity for the first year to get in and compete".
Since coming together in mid-September, the team has had a fair amount of time to train and gel together before the season starts. With various training days and scrimmages with a variety of teams in BC, Coach Jeff Ross spoke with confidence about his team's growth during the final days before regular season. "The progress has been good. Everyone has been adapting and growing well. They've all been improving throughout the preseason. And we'll continue to learn and grow as the season goes on".
The team's first opportunity to learn and grow will be this Friday, October 14, as the Royals take on the visiting CBC Bearcats to open the 2016-2017 campaign. The action starts at 6 pm in the Douglas College New Westminster Campus gym. Come out and support the Royals as they look to build on last year's success!
