CORNER BROOK The best female volleyball players in the province will test their mettle on the hardcourt this weekend, but Randy Rowsell believes his Grenfell Warriors women’s volleyball team will be in the hunt for gold.
Rowsell believes his team has all the tools to compete for top spot in A Division on the women’s side at the Molson 67 Provincial Senior Volleyball Championships.
Even if he’s missing his most gifted player — Alicia Power of Corner Brook — who will be suiting up for the province’s 2013 Canada Summer Games women’s volleyball team for the tournament.
“I’m thinking we’ll be competitive,” coach Rowsell said Tuesday afternoon. “With Alicia I think we would have a good chance at winning it, but without her it’s going to be a little tougher.”
“We certainly should be competitive, but whether we win it or not I don’t know it’s hard to say,” he added.
No doubt, a team has to find other ways to win or players have to dig deeper in the absence of an impact player, and that’s what coach Rowsell is hoping happens this weekend.
“I got a couple of younger girls from up the coast who haven’t played a lot of volleyball at that level, so one of them is going to have to step up,” he said.
The field of teams includes a lot of former stars with the Memorial University of Newfoundland Sea-Hawks women’s volleyball team sprinkled throughout and this includes a Canada Games squad that also features MUN star and Kippens native Krista Hogan strutting their stuff on the hardcourt.
Rowsell expects the Canada Games team to be a strong force and the pre-tournament favourites.
He believes the fitness level of the Canada Games team, as well as a team or two from the east coast, will be better than his team because they spend more time on the hardcourt so it’s going to be a challenge.
However, he has been around long enough to know matches are won the floor and anything can happen.
“If they play up to their potential they will do fine,” he said of his girls.
A total of 115 male and female teams will converge on central Newfoundland in the quest for glory making the tournament the largest of its kind for the third-straight year. There will be over 200 athletes/coaches/officials and convenors participating in 11 divisions consisting of male and female A, B and C divisions.
The action gets underway Friday afternoon with championship games slated for Saturday. Games will be played on 20 volleyball courts from Grand Falls-Windsor to Glovertown with the main concentration in Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor.
The annual Molson party will take place Saturday night at the Hotel Gander after the completion of the championship matches.
Coach Rowsell’s Warriors include Kelsey Furey of Corner Brook, Hannah Bradbury of Corner Brook, Jillian Wells of Cox’s Cove, Katie Parsons of Rocky Harbour, Sara Wentzell of Daniel’s Harbour, Kelsie Rogers of Lewisporte, Rebecca Carter of Port aux Basques and Brittany Costello of Corner Brook.
