Rebels women’s volleyball team getting “out the gates” strong, said coach Dan McGregor

BY Arianna Montanino

Emily Loewen spikes the ball on the Pilots while her Rebels teammates prepare for a return./ARIANNA MONTANINO

The Red River Rebels women’s volleyball team won 3-0 against the Providence College Pilots on Nov. 9, earning themselves a four-win streak. The Pilots were the champions of the Manitoba College Athletic Conference (MCAC) 2017-2018 season where the Rebels were knocked out in the semi-finals.

Only two weeks into the 2018-2019 season, the Rebels rank first in the MCAC and don’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.

The early wins have coach Dan McGregor feeling positive about upcoming games.

“These are the important wins,” said McGregor. “It looks like every team is competitive this year.”

Without a permanent setter – the team lost setters Sydney Curell and Gabrielle Wishart this season and have not replaced them – the Rebels have been alternating its players throughout the games. McGregor said he wants them to grow into these positions in order to get stronger as a team.

“We’re all pretty versatile people,” said Ashley Goodwin, MVP and athlete of the week in the 2017-2018 season. “It’s good that we can all switch back into a position.”

Goodwin, a starting player, was taken out in the third period of the team’s most recent game because of a suspected quad injury, but she said she is determined to play next game.

Due to Goodwin’s injury, McGregor had to switch game plans halfway through the set and said he wanted the team to still be confident in their ability to win.

“As soon as you start doing something different it’s easy for lot of confusion to happen,” said McGregor. “But I think they did well [with] overcoming that and communicating.”

The Rebels have already had a few injured players this season that they have had to adjust around. Taylor Gray, one of the team captains, said she felt the team did a “perfectly fine” job of that this game.

Gray said she believes that they have a strong team this year and that the key to their success will be settling into the new positions.

“Once we do that, we’ll be dominant,” said Gray.

The Rebels pat each other on the back after a successful set./ARIANNA MONTANINO

Gray also calls for their leaders to “bring out the loudness” in the team to shake some of the timidity that comes with a new season.

It looks like the Rebels are gearing up for a successful season this winter, beating Providence College 3-0 again on Nov. 10 and adding a fifth win to their streak.

“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble,” said Gray.