Change is Good

by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips

Change.

Change, some say, is good.

It may be difficult at first but in the end the benefits may outweigh the negatives.

Such is, or was, the case for Shaya Suchy.

A soft-spoken student/athlete from Lanigan, Saskatchewan, Suchy, like many, was an all-around athlete during her high school days.

But her true passion was directed to the sport of volleyball.

A sport her older sister Jade had played in high school and a sport in which her father would coach her on the club level.

But whereas playing the middle position at a diminutive 5-foot-6 may prove successful at the high school level…it could pose a problem in post-secondary sport where players at that position are usually much taller.

Recruited by various schools following high school graduation, including Lake Region State College located in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, Suchy selected Medicine Hat College to attend in 2015-2016.

"I came to visit the school (Medicine Hat College) and it seemed like a good place and I enjoyed the whole atmosphere of the school plus I wanted to stay in Canada," recalled  Suchy, 19, enrolling in University Studies: Education.

"In high school and club, my coaches were good and always pushed me to getting better. My high school coach told me that I would probably have to change to outside or Libero as I am not that tall. I guess I accepted the fact."

Becoming part of the Medicine Hat College Rattlers women's volleyball team, Suchy was switched from her middle spot to Libero.

According to Wikipedia, a Libero, introduced to the sport internationally in 1998, ' "is a player specialized in defensive skills: the libero must wear a contrasting jersey color from his or her teammates and cannot block or attack the ball when it is entirely above net height. When the ball is not in play, the libero can replace any back-row player, without prior notice to the officials."

"It was hard getting on the court and getting a feel for things," admits Suchy who in 2015-2016, her rookie campaign in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), recorded 37 digs in 36 sets. "Coming to a new place where I did not know anybody was difficult also. Obviously I had the team but coming and playing a new position was hard.

"As a middle, I had played in the front row and usually (on rotations) the back row. Now I'm only in the back row...rying to prevent the other team from getting points. That is my role now…focusing on serve and receive."

This year Suchy has recorded 230 digs in in 54 sets as the teams only Libero.

"I have always had a fairly good vertical and now that I am not jumping, I do miss it. But we still have drills in practice where I get to hit and stuff. It would be nice to do those things in a game again.

"But now my job is to focus on trying to get the ball up and that's what gets me going. The sport means quite a bit to me and that is what I am focused on."

Suchy says she is proud to be part of the Rattlers family.

"I did not know what that – Rattler family – meant prior to coming here. Here everybody is close…the school is not too big or not too small."

The Rattlers are currently in seventh and last place in the ACAC South Division. Last year they finished fifth overall in the division.

"Sometimes it is frustrating because I love the game so much. Sometimes when we do not play to our potential it bothers me. I wish we could put it all together. We will."