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Diggin’ the defensive specialist role: Trojans’ Harder a real speed reader
January 17, 2012 CALGARY — As a journalism student, Danielle Harder plans on writing for a living. But when she suits up in the red-and-white togs of the SAIT Trojans, Harder is a speed reader with very few peers.
A speed reader on the volleyball court, that is. As the Trojans’ starting libero, or defensive specialist, Harder is tasked with first-touch duties . . . and that includes sizing up what’s happening on the other side of the net, taking an educated guess, and making that leap of faith.
“As a libero, you have to anticipate. It’s that hundredth of a second where you formulate a clue as to where the ball’s going to go — because if you don’t, you’re not going to get there,” notes first-year Trojans head coach Art O’Dwyer. “There’s a speed element, and there’s also a reading element.”
The Trojans (6-6), who are coming off a bye week, will need those extra reserves of energy for what promises to be one of the most grueling weeks of the 2011-12 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) season.
The Women of Troy head across town to Mount Royal University on Wednesday, Jan. 18 to play the defending Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) champion Cougars (12-2), starting at 6 p.m. From there, they’ll tangle with a traditional nemesis, the Red Deer College Queens (6-6), for a weekend doubleheader, starting on Friday, Jan. 20 at Red Deer and continuing at SAIT’s Campus Centre gym on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m.
Between them, Harder (2nd year, Red Deer, Alta., journalism arts) and veteran left-sides Caia Morstad (4th year, Swift Current, Sask., petroleum engineering technology) and Presley Mills (3rd year, Calgary, business administration) are tasked with the vast majority of first-contact balls, whether it’s receiving serves or digging and passing.
Harder currently holds the outright team lead in digs, with 123, also topping the Trojans with a digs-per-set average of 3.3, which ranks 11th across the ACAC. She revels in those on-court guessing games, and says making successful back-row gambits is “honestly the greatest feeling in the world.”
“Being a defensive specialist, and focusing on my passing and serve-receive, is a lot more enjoyable to me than playing at the net,” says Harder, 19. “When you can see the setter going a particular way, when you can see the hitter’s angle and position yourself so they’re directly in front of you, when you can pass the ball up nice and high for your team . . . it’s the same feeling a basketball player would have with a perfect three-point shot, or a hockey player with a great slapshot.
“My guts and glory? It’s when I get that sweet dig, or that awesome pass off a serve-receive.”
Since taking the Trojans’ helm, O’Dwyer has demanded an extra dose of off-court physical training from his players at SAIT’s on-campus Peak Power Sport Development, and praises Harder as one of the players who’ve embraced the concept with open arms.
“It fits my general lifestyle. I’ve always been active and busy. I’m not sure if I’ve got ADD,” says Harder with a chuckle, “but when I sit down and relax for too long, I get a little antsy and I have to go out and do something — go for a run, or a swim, or go do yoga. The extra work at Peak Power makes you feel better. And you do notice the difference — the sprints at the end of practice, the weights when you’re jumping. Why not improve, and be the best athlete you can be?”
O’Dwyer and his coaching staff are also working with Harder to help her relinquish her short-term memory on the court. “When (Calgary Flames netminder) Miikka Kiprusoff gets scored on, he has a very particular way of resetting. He skates out of the net; he lifts his mask up; he watches the play. And as soon as he puts his mask back down, he’s ready to play,” says O’Dwyer. “That’s what a libero has to do, as well. By nature, Dannie’s a fiery competitor, and that’s an area she’s improving on.”
