Role player gets chance to shine

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/02/2023 (977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s great to have veteran stars summon up their best performances in big games but sometimes a role player can have a similar impact.

On Sunday afternoon, Christine Kolbuck was just that kind of unsung hero for the University of Winnipeg Wesmen.

The second-year middle, used only in spot duty earlier in the Canada West women’s volleyball quarter-final, came off the bench to serve six consecutive points to close out a five-set, 2½-hour quarter-final marathon over the Fraser Valley Cascades Sunday afternoon at the Duckworth Centre.

Kolbuck’s steady serving in a pressurized atmosphere included an ace in that final set. She also chipped in with four digs during the match — two of those coming in that fifth set.

“It’s basically going in there and doing my job and trying to help when I can because I came in cold,” said Kolbuck. “I go out there and just focus — I’ve served hundreds of times in the gym before and practised it. So it’s just like any other day.”

Wesmen coach Phil Hudson understood how timely Kolbuck’s contributions were.

“She came in at a very crucial time and she made some good serves but not only that, she also made a couple of digs and set a couple of really good second balls off the defence, too,” said Wesmen head coach Phil Hudson, whose fourth-seeded squad posted a 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-8 match victory and a 2-1 series triumph over the No. 5 Cascades.

“So that was huge… She really did her job and she was very hard at it and I’m really proud of how she handled the pressure.”

Ashleigh Laube led the Wesmen with 14 kills while teammates Haille Bujan, Emma Parker and Selva Planincic added 10 apiece.

Fraser Valley was led once again by the sister duo of Gabrielle and Lauren Attieh, who reeled off 22 and 16 kills, respectively.

The Cascades struggled to find success with their serves, committing 18 service errors in the match compared to Winnipeg’s nine. The hosts also had seven aces to Fraser Valley’s four.

“Serve and pass is key to volleyball at every level and so if we can serve in and serve tough, it’s crucial to your performance,” said Hudson. “… It’s usually the teams that pass the best and can handle the other team’s service (that win) and we did a pretty good job with that in the fifth set.”

Third-year left side Planincic said that dealing with ebbs and flows of a five-set marathon was nothing new for her team.

“I’ve been through it a lot but it’s still hard, obviously, but I think I’ve gotten better at it,” said Planincic, who added two service aces and 17 digs to her stat line. “All of us are just trying to put the ball away. That’s kind of the main goal. Every time I go up to hit or anything I do, that’s my focus.”

Hudson substituted freely in the fourth set and his starters returned to the floor rejuvenated in the fifth set.

“They weren’t sitting worrying about whether they got taken out or not,” he said. “They were just getting their mindset ready for game five and that’s what experience gets you. Our fifth years came through — Ashleigh (Laube) and Emma (Parker) played amazing. Haille (Bujan) was a fantastic tonight, too. It was just really good team effort.”

Winnipeg will go on the road to face the top-seeded Trinity Western Spartans in a best-of-three conference semifinal slated for Thursday, Friday and, if necessary, Saturday.

The Spartans are also ranked No. 1 in the country.

“They’re the top team in all of Canada and they’ve shown that throughout the whole season,” said Hudson. “They’re the best and it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to go in and play the top team.”

Added Planincic: “They’ve been kind of the top team all year but we’ve all watched them play and I think we can take them.”

In another women’s quarter-final Saturday, the No. 6 Manitoba Bisons completed a sweep of third-seeded UBC, getting 23 kills and 14 digs from Raya Surinx en route to beating the Thunderbirds 25-23-18-25, 25-20, 25-22 in Vancouver.

The Bisons will go to Calgary to face the Mount Royal Cougars in semifinal action.

HOOPS HEAVEN: The U of W men’s basketball team, fresh from a 73-70 win over Manitoba in Saturday’s conference semifinal, will travel to Victoria to play the top-rated Vikes in the Canada West final Friday. Game time is 9 p.m. Central.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca