The Basics:
Armed with as deep a roster the school has fielded in recent memory, the SFU Clan women's volleyball team will open their NCAA season in Irvine, CA this weekend, where they will take part in Concordia University Irvine's Labor Day Tournament.
Running for just two days from September 2 - 3, the competition will see the Clan square off the UC San Diego Tritons, the Colorado Christian University Cougars, the Concordia (Calif.) University Eagles, and the Azusa Pacific Cougars.
SFU will open the tournament with two games this Friday, taking on UCSD at 9:00 am before facing Colorado Christian at 3:00 pm. On Saturday, the Clan will face the Eagles at 1:00 pm, followed by a 5:00 pm showdown with Azusa.
Coming In:
The Labor Day Tournament will be SFU`s first action of the season, save a couple of scrimmages against Capilano and Thompson Rivers University. The same can be said for all of the Tritons, Eagles, and both sets of Cougars, as all five teams aim to separate themselves amongst regional rivals, with an eye towards voting for the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year.
Key Storylines:
Leaders Abound – Simon Fraser will feature a deep group of talented seniors in 2016, with setter
Tamara Nipp, libero
Alison McKay, and outside hitters
Emma Jennings and
Devon May entering their final years with the club. The foursome will be relied on to lead an otherwise young squad, with five freshmen, four sophomores, and a lone junior making up the rest of the Clan.
Eye on the Prize – These early-season games will pit teams against out-of-conference foes in their region, giving NCAA voters a chance to see how they stack up against teams from across the NCAA. That means these games will play a huge role in teams being voted into the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year.
Players to Watch:
Alison McKay – Named the GNAC's Defensive Player of the Year in 2015, the hyper-athletic libero is coming off a summer in which she was named to the Canadian Senior National Team. Last year, McKay finished second in the conference with 6.08 digs-per-set.
Taylor Sturms – An electric outside hitter, Sturms was named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Preseason All-American Team despite medical redshirting in 2015. One of the most dominant players to suit up for Colorado Christian, Sturms set the single-season school records in attack attempts (1543) and kills (573) in 2013.
Rachel Flynn – Concordia`s Answer to Sturms, Flynn was named the PacWest`s was named the conference`s Preseason Player of the Year ahead of the 2016 campaign. In 2015, Flynn's per-set averages had her ranked top five in kills (4.21 - third) and aces (0.39). Flynn's total kill count, 413, was tops in the conference.
From the Coach's Mouth:
"Clearly, these games are important for the NCAA rankings at the end," noted head coach
Gina Schmidt. "It's a really good tournament to be a part of because it'll serve to prepare us for the season. We want to play good teams in the preseason – in terms of expectations, we're going to focus on our own end of the court and figure out what we need to work on."
