This isn’t how Pat Hennelly wanted to host his first Canada West playoff series.
The ninth-year WolfPack head coach stood in the TRU Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 11, running practice in the venue for one of the first times this season.
Hennelly and the WolfPack (13-9) were preparing for their best-of-three series against the Saskatchewan Huskies (11-11).
Match 1 gets underway on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Tournament Capital Centre.
Hennelly’s charges were also preparing to play one of their most important tilts of the season in unfamiliar confines.
The second match of the post-season showdown will be played in the TRU Gym, where the Pack have played just four times in the last two seasons.
Game time on Friday, Feb. 14, is 7 p.m.
“My preference would have been to be in the TCC,” Hennelly said. “I mean, it’s the gym we play in all the time and practise in all the time.
“We did change the schedule to play a couple games against Manitoba in here, so we certainly have that under our belts.
“It is what it is,” he continued. “We certainly have more games in here than Saskatchewan does, so we just have to go forward.”
The TCC will be occupied with the Van Ryswyk Indoor Invitational track meet, which runs from Friday to Sunday, meaning Match 3 of the series, if necessary, will be played at the TRU Gym on Saturday, Feb. 15.
The dank gymnasium is a very different venue than the TCC, with shorter ceilings and less space to the left and right of the court.
Hennelly said the venue can make players “shrink,” failing to get sets all the way to the outside of the court and fearing hitting the roof with service tosses and passes.
If there’s any benefit to being in the TRU Gym, it’s that the smaller venue tends to favour an offensive-minded team like the WolfPack.
If the Huskies get on a roll, however, Hennelly said that could just as easily backfire on the home team.
“It’s harder to corral balls in this gym when guys are hitting that 120-130 km/h, it’s hard to control a ball without it hitting the roof or the walls, going into the stands,” he said.
“That’s going to factor in for sure.”
WolfPack right side Brad Gunter participated in practice on Monday and Tuesday and Hennelly said he should be in the lineup when the WolfPack take the court on Thursday.
The return of outside hitters Philip Ozari and Jordan Foot is imminent, bringing the WolfPack as close to healthy as they’ve been in 2014.
TRU beat Saskatchewan in both of their regular-season matches this year, but they were tightly contested, with the WolfPack winning the fifth set of the first match by a score of 20-18.
The second match was a 3-0 victory for TRU.
“I think we all realize that when it’s fifth set and 20-18 — the game’s to 15 — that’s like double overtime when you think about it,” Hennelly said.
“We knew it was very close.”
