Ge Hava er Ge Home

Vesna Rukavina’s passion and commitment have helped boost her team to #1
in BCCAA Women’s Volleyball, but can she and the rest of the DC Royals
squad visualize their way to the Nationals?

Kevin Sallows

 

he’s a wall. Mute, stone-faced,
S implacable. Ar‘6'l; Royals middle

blocker, Vesna Rukavina, towers
over most of the Cariboo players on the
other side of the net.

The Cariboo Sun Demons start the
Friday night match and quickly score
the first point. But just as quickly
Douglas College steals the serve and
hammers home four straight before the
Demons coach calls a time out. The
oncourt Demons are in disarray, visibly
shaken by their false start. Thirty
seconds later, they're back in position,
facing the DC front line and Rukavina’s
unblinking stare.

“When my team is serving, I stand up
at the net and look through to the other
players,” explains Rukavina. “I try and
get their eye contact. If they look at me,

pare to be stuffed: Rukavina crushes the Sun Demons

then I know they're not focusing, so if
my server serves to them they're going to
shank the ball. It’s psychological. It’s a
total mental game.”

Off the court, Rukavina’s intimidating
presence evaporates. Somehow she
doesn’t seem as tall, and she has an
intangible quality about her ‘that puts
one immediately at ease. She still has
that intent gaze, but is quicker to break
into a smile.

Coach Susan Sharp says, “With
Vesna, what you see is what you get,
You're never unclear of where you stand
with her or what her goals or motives
are. She’s very reliable. She’s a really
consistent person.”

These qualities make Rukavina an
effective team captain and a formidable
middle blocker. As a middle, she doesn’t
move much from her position at the
front of the net when her team is playing

 

Dave Tam photo

offense, Rukavina is an anchor around
which the other players move. It’s not a
glory position—she’s usually faking
setups while the power hitter on
her left is driving the ball into
the other team. When
Rukavina does send the
ball over the net, it’s

more often a quick tip
than a monster kill. On
defense, her job is a bit
different.

“My job in the front row
is to block...” Rukavina leans,
forward slightly, “...everybody.
You have to be really fast and
know what's going on on the
other side of the court. You
have to block the middle or
left or right side. You
have to be three places

at once.”

ukavina
joined the
oyals

volleyball squad
three years ago,
coming to Douglas College from Prince
George, where she had been playing
since grade eight. She wasn’t sure what
she wanted to do at DC, so she played
volleyball and took a year of general arts
courses. By second year she was enrolled
in criminology, but volleyball remained
her first priority. She became team
captain in her second year, a year that
saw the Royals do well at the Provincials.
Unfortunately, their silver medal wasn’t

  

enough to get them to the Nationals.

“I was really upset that we didn’t make
it. We just totally folded in the final; it
was brutal. But this year we have a good
chance. I’ve never been to the Nationals,

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
    

and this is
my last year,
so I want to go.
I'm determined to
go. It’s very
important—you strive
for the best, right?”

She says this as if it’s a given, as if she
can’t image anyone not striving for the
best. :

“The thing about Vesna,” says coach
Sharp, “is she always demands excellence
from herself, and she never gives up. I'll
be honest, she’s not necessarily the best
player on the team, but she has her
absolutely outrageous moments on the
court where she is just unstoppable. She
has a lot of energy and a lot of fire, she’s
a very emotional player. Her leadership
comes from her attitude, her commit-
ment to the team, and her commitment
to the sport.”

Dave Tam photo

 
 

After a few of these outra-
geous moments—crushing stuff
blocks that stop the Cariboo
squad cold—the Demons grow
increasingly wary of Rukavina,

and try to avoid sending the ball
her way. It doesn’t do them much
good, though, because the rest of
the Royals are on top of the
game, too. It’s best of five, and
an hour later the Royals
have taken the match in
three sets: 15-8, 15-7,
and 15-11.

“This year we're a
very close team,”
Rukavina says of the
Royals’ chemistry.

“Everyone gets along
really well. We have a really
young team, but a lot of raw
talent that Sue [Sharp]
moulded together. Sue is a
very important part of it.

She’s one of the best coaches,

I've ever had.”

Before each game, Sharp

guides the players through 20

minutes of visualization, a medita-
tive time in which each player envisions
herself making the perfect pass, the
perfect block, playing the perfect game.
Rukavina considers this a crucial part of
game preparation.

“That's where you get all your energy
from,” she says. “After the visualization,
you're so pumped and ready to go, you
just bring it all on to the court with
you.”

A week before the Friday night match
with the Sun Demons, the Royals were
forced to prepare on the go for a match

 
   

continued on page 8

ae O16 ee Coenen fl @ Wt

Last weekend was very good to our teams as one took first place in a tournament and another vaulted to the top of the standings.

Basketball: bast weekend our basketball teams crossed over to the island to challenge Camosun and Malaspina on their
home courts. Friday, January 30, saw the men’s team down the Camosun Chargers 82-68 behind Mark Craven's 24 points and 12
rebounds and Jon Fast’s 21 points and 13 rebounds. On the 31st, the men’s team took on the second place Malaspina Mariners in
Naniamo. Douglas managed a 76-71 win over their rivals, increasing their lead for the sixth and final playoff spot over Trinity
Western to two games. Jon Fast had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Royals. Adrian Lenahan and Kevin Kundarewich each
scored 14 points for the Royals. The women’s team got off to a flying start to their weekend on the Friday the 30, crushing
Camosun 77-55. Carrie Rogers and Nicole Johansen paced the Royals with 24 and 14 points respectively. The Royals were
grounded on Saturday, losing a tough 56-50 overtime battle with the Malaspina Mariners. Stacy Reykdal had 16 points and Carrie
Rogers had 13 points to lead the Royals. Currently the Royals are in fourth place in the BCCAA standings, holding a two game
lead ‘over fifth place Trinity Western.

Vol leyball: The Royals defended their territory well last weekend as both teams crushed their opponents.

Friday, January 30 the UCC Sun Demons invaded the gym at New West, and our men’s team more than beat up the then
number one team in BC. The Royals finished off the Sun Demons in three straight sets, 15-13, 15-11, and 15-7. Ken
Kleindienst had 23 kills and 7 aces and Ken Kilpatrick had 8 kills and 1 ac8 to lead the Royals. Saturday's game against the OUC
Lakers had to be moved to David Lam due to a scheduling conflict. Unfazed by the site change the Royals again won in three sets,
crushing the Lakers 15-6, 15—7 and 15-12. Ken Kilpatrick and Ken Kleindienst led the Royals again with 15 kills and 10 kills
respectively. With their win over UCC the Royals vaulted into a first place tie with the Trinity Western Spartans. The Royals,
however, took the lead in the standings based on fewer games lost (10-13). Friday, January 30 the women’s team continued their
dominance of the BCCAA as they crushed the UCC Sun Demons, 15-8, 15-7, and 15-11. Becki Kosinski and Vesna Rukavina
tallied 10 kills each. The Royals currently hold a two point lead over the Malaspina Mariners; however, the Mariners have a game in
hand which they will make up this weekend.

Badminton: the Royals badminton team continued its dominance in the BCCAA by placing first at the BCIT
tournament last weekend. In women’s singles Lisa Yeung took the gold and in men’s doubles Thinh Nguten and Thong Nguyen
took the silver while Raymond Tsoi and Jimmy Mah took bronze. The Royals are currently ranked number one in BCCAA
badminton with 55.2 points, with their nearest competitor Capilano only having 46.6.

Coming events: Big weekend in sports at DC this weekend. First the men’s and women’s basketball teams play
Friday, February 6, and Saturday, February 7 in New West at 6 pm for the women and 8 pm for the men on both days. Opponents
are the OUC Lakers on Friday and the UCFV Cascades (ranked #4 in men’s and #1 in women’s) on Saturday. The final badminton
tournament of the year goes Saturday and Sunday here in New West. This is the last tune up our athletes get before the BC finals.

 

 

The Other Press February 41997 7