Things are looking up for the four main sports teams at Camosun College. The Camosun Chargers men’s and women’s volleyball and basketball teams all have a chance to make the playoffs, with two of the four teams currently holding winning records.
The Chargers women’s volleyball team has put together some recent wins and is currently sitting in fourth place. The team is hoping this will be the start to a turnaround leading to the playoffs.
Head coach Chris Dahl says it took a reminder of the excitement and enjoyment of the game to get the team back to where it needed to be in order to finish off the season strong.
“It’s been a long haul and it’s easy to lose touch with that energy and that excitement,” says Dahl. “We’re confident that when we keep that, with the skill level and the talent that we’ve collected within the program, we’ll perform well on the floor.”
Dahl says the team will have to keep up its re-found motivation if it hopes to be prepared for the upcoming provincial playoffs in Cranbrook.
“Every opponent we play is going to be a battle, so we need to prepare for those but also embrace the challenges that come with that,” he says.
Second-year volleyball player Morgan Marshall, originally from Smithers, took home a PACWEST athlete of the week award for her strong play in recent games.
The Camosun men’s volleyball team was also able to fight the battle and maintain fourth place provincially after some ups and downs this season. The team currently has a record of nine wins and seven losses.
Over in basketball, the women’s team is also picking up speed after a rough start. Its record currently sits at five wins and seven losses.Second-year Charger Ella Goldsmid was recently awarded PACWEST athlete of the week honours for Camosun’s basketball squad.
Meanwhile, the men’s basketball team will need to up the level of motivation if it hopes to pull out of last place (currently three wins and eight losses) in time to make it to playoffs.
The team faced no shortage of unexpected challenges in 2012, such as losing three players to injury, but new head coach Scot Cuachon believe they can overcome this season’s obstacles if they can come together and work harder as a team.
“We just need to focus on the next step for us, which is to get into the playoffs,” says Cuachon, “and I think that we still have a really good chance of going. We just have to keep moving forward and building.”
Cuachon maintains an optimistic outlook for the rest of the season, and achieving the goal that was set at the beginning of the season for a minimum provincial bronze title is still realistic.
“Anything can happen once you get to playoffs,” says Cuachon. “I think that we’ll improve and come together and we’ll learn to work harder together, and after that we should be able to reach our goals.”