A young Keyano College men’s volleyball team were taken to school and swept Friday 3-0 (23-25, 20-25, 22-25) and Saturday 3-0 (19-25, 21-25, 18-25) by the defending national champion Grant MacEwan University Griffins at the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre. The weekend was a harsh learning experience for the Huskies only eight months after the team that hosted nationals.

“I think it was great growth for us,” said Huskies head coach Konrad Plante. “Some of our young guys are starting to realize that at this level playing for half a set doesn’t work. You have to be mentally and physically strong enough to last a whole set and prepare for the next point and the next play.”

Even though MacEwan has a lot of players returning from last year’s championship team, Plante felt his young players stood in well against the Griffins.

“The guys are starting to realize that next level does require a lot of work,” he said. “Not (just) physically but also mentally to be in there for every point.”

Fifth-year Husky Stacey Elser had a team-high seven kills Saturday to go along with five digs. Rookie Vince McFadyen, a six-foot-three middle, had four stuff blocks and fellow first year player, six-foot-three left side Matt Herbert, had four kills.

Another first-year Husky is Dylan Sterzer, but he has a few games of CIS experience with the University of Manitoba.

“We brought in three guys from Manitoba who haven’t played ball in a year,” Plante said.

“They understand the game. They know what it takes to be successful and the experience is there. Now it’s a matter of what I call game shape and touch time. I’ve seen them come around.

“I’m trying to preach patience with the guys. It’s not going to happen the first league game, it’s not going to happen first year. If you look at all the good teams, it’s taken a few years of building up a program where you have continuous first, second, third and even fourth-year players. More than one or two.”

Gritty fourth-year right side Pascal Guenette, who had five digs in the game, thinks the young Huskies did well against the Griffins.

“It’s not like they blew us out when they came here,” Guenette said. “We just need to get used to game play. We’ve been practicing so long and we just need that with the young guys on our team.”

Next weekend, the Huskies play the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves.

“After this game, I think they realize they need to bring it on to practice next week and in the next couple of weeks coming up,” Guenette said.

COREY ATKINSON

Today staff