Volley Pandas set for WolfPack
Atta Almasi
Sports Staff
Feb 15, 2012
The volleyball Pandas are looking to start their post-season in the very same way they started the regular season — with a pair of home victories over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
“Our preparations are the same as they are every week as we prepare for the quarter finals,” said head coach Laurie Eisler. “We will need an entire team effort this weekend as TRU is playing very good volleyball.”
The Pandas, who closed out their regular season with a respectable 14-6 record after a win-loss split in Brandon last weekend, notched the second-place seed in Canada West and will face the 9-11, seventh-place WolfPack when they open the first round of the playoffs on Friday at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
“Their international players are solid and I would expect them to lead the way for the WolfPack,” Eisler said, commenting on the number of skilled players that Thompson Rivers has in their lineup. “We will need to play consistently at a high level to handle their offensive power.”
The playoffs remained an uncertainty for the WolfPack who had to battle with the Pandas’ last opponent, the Brandon Bobcats, for the final playoff spot. Alternately, the Pandas had clinched a spot in the post-season and home court advantage weeks earlier. In the end, Thompson Rivers and Brandon ended up with the same 9-11 record with the WolfPack getting in on a tie-breaker.
The playoff format for women’s volleyball works on the system of having the top seven teams in the CanWest standings qualify for post-season play with the top seed, in this case the UBC Thunderbirds, receiving both a first round bye and the honour of hosting the teams that do get out of the quarter final round. The next six seeds then play each other for the right to punch their ticket to Vancouver next weekend in the CanWest championship; Thomspon Rivers WolfPack at Alberta Pandas, Manitoba Bisons at Winnipeg Wesmen and Calgary Dinos at Trinity Western Spartans.
The teams that qualify for Vancouver will then play two semi-final matches — the lowest remaining seed playing UBC — with the winners advancing to the CanWest championship game and the losers advancing to a third place match. The top three teams in Canada West, the CanWest champions, runner-up, and third place finisher will all then travel to Hamilton, Ont. and the campus of McMaster University for the CIS women’s volleyball championship.There they’ll compete against teams from Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada for the chance to be crowned national champion.
Last year, the Pandas finished third-place in Canada West and lost to Trinity Western in the bronze medal game at the CIS championships in Quebec City.
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