DAVID LARKINS, Wesmen Athletics
First off, let’s be clear: No one controls destiny.
So, no, the Winnipeg Wesmen women’s volleyball team’s fate is not in its hands when it comes to a playoff spot. There is no predestination, no kinship of all living things furiously tugging on the strings of our collective existence that will lead anyone to a foreordained denouement.
Right, where were we?
The point is, the Wesmen can only be asked to handle what is in front of them: the day-by-day trudge through the last legs of the Canada West conference season with only the unknown ahead. The next step in the trek is Friday night at the Duckworth Centre when they host the Manitoba Bisons in a match rescheduled from last month that will, like so many before them, have ripple effects through the East Division standings and the conference playoff picture as a whole.
What is known, however, is the Wesmen have put themselves — by their own accounts and efforts — into a favourable position to be among the fortunate still standing when the post-season arrives for the chosen few. The top three teams in each division will qualify, with three wild cards added in.
Yet just qualifying isn’t necessarily the only goal. The Wesmen would most certainly like to improve their standing to try and draw a more enticing match-up should they eventually make it through.
At 5-6 and in third place, the Wesmen are a half-match behind second-place Brandon (5-5) after a split with the Bobcats last week. They remain two points clear of Regina, which has a match in hand, and four points ahead of last-place Manitoba, which has lost three in a row, including a five-setter with Winnipeg on Jan. 21.
After Friday night, the Wesmen have another home-and-home with Brandon and a pair of matches at first-place Saskatchewan to close out the conference season.
Winnipeg has struggled somewhat with the Bisons this season, having lost both ends of a home-and-home to open the season back in November. The Bisons, however, have lost eight of their last nine since.
The Wesmen are coming off a quality win last Thursday against the Bobcats at home, but fell short in a five-setter in the back end of the doubleheader two nights later in Brandon.
After a four-match losing streak that left them without a win in November, the Wesmen have won three of their last five.
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