Winning a national collegiate title is one thing, defending it is entirely another.
The Camosun College Chargers know that as they begin the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association men鈥檚 volleyball championship at Douglas College in New Westminster, beginning today.
Head coach Charles Parkinson鈥檚 Chargers enter as a surprisingly low No. 4 seed and with a target on their backs as defending champs.
鈥淚 am surprised, actually,鈥� Parkinson admitted of the seeding, behind the No. 1 Red Deer Kings, No. 2 Fanshawe Falcons and No. 3 Titans de Limoilou, the latter being the team Camosun defeated in last year鈥檚 final.
鈥淔or a team that went 25-0 and was ranked No. 1, and was really only out of the top three for a week 鈥� to come in ranked fourth is a bit strange,鈥� he conceded.
Camosun鈥檚 first opponent will be the No. 5 Mohawk Mountaineers today at 3 p.m. The Chargers come in after a thrilling five-set marathon win over Douglas in the Pacwest final two weekends ago.
鈥淚鈥檝e said to the guys all year, the goal of each team is getting to first-place position, but staying there when everyone wants to knock you off is the most difficult thing to do,鈥� Parkinson said of attempting to defend the national crown.
鈥淓veryone wants to do it and for them, it鈥檚 their season. Our season is defined by winning a national championship and theirs is defined by beating the Chargers. It鈥檚 a different mindset that you have to have every single week and you can鈥檛 take a break.鈥�
It鈥檚 that type of statement that usually is taped up in an opponent鈥檚 locker-room, just for added motivation. But, to a man, the Chargers already know what鈥檚 coming.
鈥淎bsolutely, it鈥檚 tougher,鈥� setter Vitor Macedo said of defending. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a bigger target on our back. Last year, nobody really knew who we were, the expectations weren鈥檛 there. But this year everyone is looking at us and there鈥檚 more pressure.鈥�
Which he believes the Chargers can handle.
鈥淓very year is different, with different dynamics. This year, this group has been amazing with a lot of different personalities, which makes everything even more interesting,鈥� he said, adding he鈥檚 not worried about rankings.
鈥淎s athletes we don鈥檛 concern ourselves with how they decide. They have their own reasons. They wouldn鈥檛 do it just because. We have to beat the good teams anyway, if we want to win.
鈥淚 believe in this group, just like we did in provincials,鈥� said Macedo. 鈥淲e have the talent, we just have to perform, play with our hearts and hope for the best.鈥�
One newcomer is Savana Walkingbear, who joined the Chargers from Lakeland College in Alberta.
鈥淚 love this team. I consider the Camosun Chargers this year as a dream team,鈥� said Walkingbear, an All-Canadian last season who watched the Chargers win at nationals and was talked into joining Camosun by Macedo. 鈥淚 think we have all the tools.
鈥淲e have everything required to win a national championship and a provincial championship, which we鈥檝e proven already. This is the real test with nationals coming up.鈥�
And the Chargers plan to take it one matchup at a time.
鈥淚鈥檝e always said to the guys, you have to be healthy. You have to be sickness free. You have to be lucky and you have to play your hearts out. You leave it there,鈥� stressed Parkinson. 鈥淪ometimes you win and sometimes you don鈥檛.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we can do anything more going into this tournament. I think we鈥檙e technically, tactically, physically and mentally ready. There are no excuses. This is going to be the best team in sa国际传媒 that wins and it鈥檚 the legit best team because it鈥檚 all the best teams from all the conferences that are here. It should be fun and we鈥檙e looking forward to it.鈥�
