When the men’s volleyball team arrives at the AC this Saturday to play against RMC, it will be a night of firsts. It will be the first home game of the season for the Blues, who have gotten off to a slow start in losing their first three contests. But it will also be the regular season debut of new fulltime head coach Ed Drakich.
The hiring of Drakich, a U of T alumnus and assistant coach with the team from 1989-1990, is seen as a major coup for a volleyball program that had stalled in recent years. Under former head coach Jeff Chung, the men’s team had managed a very respectable 34-26 regular season record, but had fallen short of expectations in the post-season, losing all three OUA quarterfinal matches during his three-year tenure. The men’s team under Chung was always solid but never elite, whereas the women’s side had one of the most decorated coaches in Canadian women’s volleyball at the helm. Year after year, women’s coach Kristine Drakich had her squad in the running for an OUA title. In her 19 seasons, the six-time coach of the year has led the Blues to 18 consecutive final four appearances and won six OUA championships.
When Drakich was appointed in early July, a U of T press release declared, “Drakich upholds family volleyball tradition.” His father Eli was an assistant coach with the Blues for many years, and Ed Drakich should have no problem sharing the court opposite his sister Kristine. Still, Kristine Drakich assures that there is no sibling rivalry between the two.
Ed Drakich said the men’s volleyball team is missing its experienced players this year: “The team is quite young and inexperienced and missing some key leadership from last season. Both our setter [James McKay] and the leading attacker [Brendan Peel] from last year’s team have departed.”
“Presently, the team is experiencing the growing pains associated with learning how to win against some very tough teams (Guelph, McMaster and York) on the road minus the services of an injured starter (Jessi Lelliott, a strong fourthyear player).”
The 0-3 start gives no cause for panic, considering the team is rebuilding its roster. The Blues held a 4-1 record after five games last season, only to fade midway through the season. This year, the Blues are better positioned for high-level performance, despite early struggles.
“My expectations are that the team gains experience and improves throughout the season while we compete for a playoff spot,” said Drakich. With RMC and Queen’s in town in this weekend, Drakich said consistency was an issue. “We started well and did have moments of very strong play. However, we did not sustain our level of play throughout the whole match. Credit must be given to York who played very well against us. We need to improve on our consistency so that we can maintain a high level of play throughout the entire match.”
York, 2-2 in 2007, had a solid if unspectacular game in defeating Toronto 3-0, and in many ways resembled last year’s Blues. The young Toronto team kept it close for most of the time, losing 25-18 and 25-17 respectively, before York took the game with a 25-14 victory in the third set. Steven Kung and Marko Balan, two of the more experienced players on the Blues roster, had nine and six kills apiece to lead the team.
The Blues have an eight-game homestand over the next few weeks, and Drakich expressed hopes that the team can build on past games. “I am hoping that this extended homestand will give our team the lift that we need.”
