New coach, new attitude for Huskies women’s volleyball team

SASKATOON – Mark Dodds is two months into his first season at the helm of the Saskatchewan Huskies women’s volleyball team and the honeymoon, it seems, is still going strong.

“I love challenges, and coming in here not really having a lot of experience with the women’s game, I took the challenge on and it’s been exciting. It’s been fun,” Dodds said.

“Fun” is not how most would describe the atmosphere surrounding the team last season, when misconduct allegations led the University of Saskatchewan to part ways with former head coach Jason Grieve and the Huskies limped to a last-place finish.

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But Dodds, who previously served as an assistant under Brian Gavlas with the men’s team, has injected fresh life into the program.

“He’s totally brought a new feel to the team,” said middle blocker Emily Humbert.

“There’s very intense practices but also understanding that we’re growing as a group, and it feels like we’re getting better every day, which is a really nice feeling.”

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Dodds’ approach seems to be working. The Huskies are 4-6 after back-to-back wins over the University of Calgary Dinos and if they can do the same against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen on the final weekend of the first half of the season, they will go into the holiday break with a .500 record, something the team hasn’t done since the 1998-99 season.

“Coming out of the first half with six wins is something we really want to do, especially knowing that we played a very heavy part of our schedule in the first semester,” Humbert said.

Heavy is an understatement. The Huskies have already faced the teams that currently occupy the first three spots in the CIS weekly top ten rankings, and they’re hoping that experience will pay off down the stretch.

“You see how they play, see how you play against them, and you always have the opportunity throughout the season to prepare for when you see them in the finals,” said outside hitter Emmalyn Copping.

It’s optimistic talk for a team that won just five matches last season, but it’s just another sign of the Huskies’ growing confidence.

“You can see it. Everyone’s walking with their head held a little bit higher and proud to put on that jersey every weekend,” Dodds said.

The Huskies host Winnipeg Friday and Saturday night at the PAC. The women play at 6 p.m. CT.