Local recruits keen to smash for the Herd

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KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Westwood�s Rachel Cockrell (left), Oak Park�s Kierstyn Bakker are proud Bisons.

On campus

Friday

Volleyball: Manitoba vs. Trinity Western, women play at 6 p.m., men at 7:30 p.m., Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Basketball: Winnipeg vs. Brandon, women play at 6 p.m., men at 8 p.m., Duckworth Centre.

Men's hockey: Manitoba vs. Saskatchewan, 7 p.m., Max Bell Centre.

Saturday

Volleyball: Manitoba vs. Trinity Western, women play at 6 p.m., men at 7:30 p.m., Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Basketball: Winnipeg vs. Brandon, women play at 6 p.m., men at 8 p.m., Duckworth Centre.

Men's hockey: Manitoba vs. Saskatchewan, 7 p.m., Max Bell Centre.

There was a time when Ken Bentley, who is in his 20th year as coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons women's volleyball team, wouldn't think about recruiting players until December of their Grade 12 year.

"The reality is that kids are being recruited in the 10th and 11th grades now," he said as he introduced Grade 12 students Rachel Cockrell of Westwood Collegiate and Kierstyn Bakker of Oak Park Collegiate who have both committed to play for the Herd next season. "There was no Internet (back then). Kids didn't know what was going on across the country. Now the world is at their fingertips, so you have to provide a strong, compelling argument for them to want to stay at home. Recruiting never ends."

The 5-foot-10 Cockrell, and Bakker, at six feet are both outside hitters. They'll play in the Bison club system this year, and under the coaching eyes of Bentley, men's coach Garth Pischke and women's assistant coach Dave Carrasco, they'll learn the system.

"Rachel is an exceptional jumper," said Bentley. "She is a one-of-a-kind athlete. Kierstyn is a great all-round player, and a super competitor. I think both are more than willing to do whatever work is necessary to be great at the university level."

For Bakker, committing to the Bisons was a lifelong dream come true. "I knew from when I was a young girl where I wanted to go. I went to Bison games from when I was five, and it has always been my biggest dream to play at the U of M."

Bakker thinks of herself as one of the top passers in Manitoba. "It hasn't always been that way, though. I've had years where I've been on the bench, but finally my skills are good enough for me to be among the top players in Manitoba."

Cockrell is confident. "I'm an over-all, all-round good player. I have practised with the girls (Bisons) before, and I can connect with them. They have all the same personalities, and they are all in it for the right reasons."

She said that playing for the Bison club team this year will prepare her for the jump to university. "(Bentley and Pischke will) teach me the systems that they are going to be using for college volleyball."

Despite a rash of injuries and illness early in the season, the Herd is still ranked third in the country. Going into this weekend's two-game Canada West Conference tilt with the Trinity Western Spartans at the Investors Group Athletic Centre, they sit in fourth place in the West with five matches won and two lost, placing them 1.5 matches behind the leader UBC Thunderbirds at 6-0.

When they return to the court after Christmas, Bentley believes the team can make a serious run at the CIS championship. "I think for us to think anything less would be really selling our ability short. But you know, we're in the toughest conference in the country, so that's why every weekend is so big now."

allan.besson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 18, 2009 C4