Griz volleyball news and notes
7/12/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
July 12, 2013
The Montana volleyball team is just 29 days away from taking the courts in the West Auxiliary Gym for its first day of practices leading up to the 2013 season. Get up to speed with some offseason notes, starting with a past, present and future look at some Griz players.
The Past
Jaimie Thibeault, of Red Deer, Alberta, is one of the fortunate few athletes who has been able to extend her passion for her sport beyond her final collegiate match. The three-time, first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection is a member of the Canadian national team and hoping to lead her country to the 2016 Olympics. She recently checked in with an update:
Hey Griz Nation,
It has been two-and-a-half years since I finished my amazing four-year experience in Missoula. In this short period of time I have been on a few adventures around the world.
Initially I went straight from Montana to train with the national team in Canada, and immediately afterwards I accepted a professional contract to play in Cannes, France. I spent August 2012 through May 2013 playing for the club Le Cannet, while gaining some worldly experience and many amazing memories. I was also fortunate enough to travel to Greece, Serbia and Italy for European Cup games.
In June, Team Canada was in Peru for the Pan American Cup. I was very humbled and honored to be named the best blocker of the entire tournament. When I reflect on how well our team did during the Pan Am Cup, I get excited and look forward to the coming years. We are building a strong foundation within the national team that will carry us into the next quad, where we will work towards qualifying for the Olympics in 2016.
Currently we are training for some exhibition games in August and also for NORCECA Championships, which will be held in Omaha, Neb., Sept. 16-21. After the Canadian season is complete for 2013 I will continue to play professional volleyball. I have not yet chosen the team I will play on for this coming season. Words cannot express how privileged I feel to be able to embark on all these wonderful experiences.
There have been many memories along the way, and I am still very proud to call myself a Griz. My Montana Grizzly sweater has been packed everywhere I go.
Go Griz! -- Jaimie
The Present
At the other end of the spectrum is senior Megan Murphey, who has spent the last seven months being watched and worked on.
Murphey suffered a knee injury in Montana's match at Eastern Washington last Oct. 25, but it wasn't until days later that she found out for certain the extent of the damage.
"When most people tear their ACL, it hurts a lot, but mine didn't hurt at all," she says. "I think it tore so fast and so clean that it killed the nerves right away. I was able to walk off the court.
"It was weird, because my knee was not stable at all. It kept giving out on me, but it wasn't painful. It was more awkward than anything else. I pulled a hamstring last year, and that hurt a lot more than this did."
Murphey's mom, Cheryl, had made the trip to Cheney, and she drove her daughter back to Missoula while the team continued on to Portland.
"I still had my doubts when I had an MRI the next morning," Murphey says. "The doctors said they could tell just by testing it, but I went in the next day and we looked at the MRIs, and I had torn my ACL and meniscus. It was hard to believe."
The surgery did not take place until nearly two months later, after the swelling around the knee had come down and Murphey had been allowed to strengthen a leg that would atrophy from lack of use during the extensive rehab.
"I had the surgery the first day of my Christmas break, and afterwards my mom drove me straight (home to) Bozeman," Murphey says.
"I did not know how painful the surgery and rehab were going to be. It was a million times worse than the actual ACL tear. I was not mentally prepared for what I was going to have to go through."
In Murphey's case, the doctor drilled a notch out of her left kneecap and used the middle part of her patella tendon as her new ACL.
Just a few weeks ago she reached the six-month mark, the point when the knee should be strong enough that the struggles to come back become more mental than physical.
"It's a little scary (playing at first)," she says, "but once you get going, it feels a lot better. And I know at this point that I don't have to worry about reinjuring myself.
"Taking six months off from any weight-bearing activity is hard, so my left leg gets tired a lot quicker than my right one does, but it still feels pretty good."
The Future
The highlight for future Grizzlies before they arrive in Missoula in early August is the annual USA Volleyball Girls' National Championships. This year's tournament was held in late June and early July in Dallas, Texas.
Three of Montana's five incoming freshmen -- Claire McCown of Spice Wood, Texas; Michelle Robinson of Honolulu, Hawaii; and Brielle Rolle of Missoula -- were on club teams that qualified and competed.
McCown's Austin Juniors team went 11-0 at the tournament, dropping just a single set in the process, to finish first out of 48 teams in the 18 American division.
Robinson's KU'IKAHI Wahine team finished 13th out of 32 teams in the 18 Open division with a record of 7-3.
Rolle and her Montana Volleyball Academy teammates placed 18th out of 24 in the 18 USA division.
The Schedule
After facing a difficult nonconference schedule last fall, Montana's non-league foes will be a little less loaded this season. Only one, Texas Tech at No. 96, ended last season with an RPI of better than 125.
Montana, which went 6-23 last fall and finished the season with an RPI of 252, will open its season at Virginia's tournament in Charlottesville Aug. 30-31. There the Grizzlies will face James Madison (2012 record: 13-16; RPI: 193), Marshall (18-13; 185) and the Cavaliers (9-22; 152).
The following weekend Montana will travel to Pullman, Wash., for Washington State's tournament. Opponents will be Texas Tech (14-18; 96), South Dakota (14-14; 161) and the Cougars (13-19; 129).
The Grizzlies hosted Texas Tech last season at the Montana Invitational and in exchange promised a return trip to Lubbock, Texas, for the Red Raiders' tournament. That Tech also signed up for Washington State's tournament means the Grizzlies and Red Raiders will meet twice in eight days.
The other two teams at Tech's tournament, which will be played Sept. 13-14, are Cal State Fullerton (15-16; 157) and Nevada (4-25; 240).
Montana's Big Sky Conference schedule opens Sept 20 when the Grizzlies host 2012 Big Sky tournament champion Northern Colorado.
The Big Sky's 10-week, 20-match schedule will conclude with the six-team postseason tournament, which this year will be held at Portland, Ore., Nov. 29-30.
