Bright future for Kings’ Tuff
In terms of experience Sean Tuff is still a novice at volleyball.
The 19-year-old Lindsay Thurber grad only got into the game in Grade 11.
“In Grade 12 I got a chance to start and Terence (Lindsay Thurber head coach Terence McMullen) helped me out a lot,” he explained. “I found the game to be a lot of fun and decided I wanted to try to continue on.”
Despite his lack of experience, RDC Kings head coach Aaron Schulha liked what he saw in the six-foot-five middle blocker and invited him to camp and red shirted him for a season.
This year Tuff not only made the 12-man roster, but is starting.
Tuff played in a number of exhibition games last season and was on the floor at the junior provincials, but it was his time at practice where he learned the most.
“The biggest thing I learned was how to prepare for games,” he said. “We had two very good veteran middles (Jeremy Stubler and Darren Dornstauder) and I was able to learn from them. As well at practice I worked at hitting against them and that helped me the most. They were both very good at blocking so that gave me an advantage this year when I’m up against bigger guys.”
Tuff also has the quickness to beat bigger men to a spot.
“The bigger guys aren’t as quick and I try to be on time, yell loud and hopefully (setter) Nick (Bell) gets me the ball,” he said.
Tuff and Bell seem to have good chemistry.
“It helps when the setter likes to give me the ball,” he said with a smile. “As well Nick is a real funny guy. He’ll joke around at the net and keeps things loose. Plus he’s always watching video and brings a lot of volleyball experience with him. He sees things I’d never pick up in a million years, that helps a lot.”
But Tuff also admits he still makes mistakes.
“I do something stupid at practice and Schulha looks at me and laughs as I don’t have all the experience yet and there are some things I’m still learning.”
The quickness of the game was one of the biggest adjustments Tuff had to make after high school.
“The speed to the outside was hard to get used to. In high school you had time to think. You could see the ball going to power and have the time to get there. Here you think it’s in the middle, but it’s not there and you have to hustle to get outside.”
Tuff has played an instrumental role in the Kings success this season. The Kings sit at 7-1 heading into their final Alberta Colleges Men’s Volleyball League series prior to the Christmas break. They face SAIT in Calgary Friday and at RDC Saturday. Women get underway at 6 p.m. both nights with the men to follow.
If the Kings can sweep and The Kings University College of Edmonton (7-1) at least split with Mount Royal, the Kings will host the playoffs.
“That’s our goal,” said Tuff. “We seem to play well at home.”
• The RDC curling teams are the only other teams in action this weekend as they play their first bonspiel of the season at NAIT, beginning Friday and running through Sunday.
• Volleyball Kings veteran outside hitter, Taylor Hunt, who leads the ACAC in kills, was named the Boston Pizza RDC male athlete of the week. Hunt lead the Kings to a pair of victories at Lakeland last weekend, finishing with 51 kills, 10 digs, two blocks and eight aces in eight sets.
Basketball Queens veteran forward Lauren Loyek received the top female award.
Loyek was outstanding in a pair of losses against Mount Royal, as she played close to 35 minutes in both games and had 30 points and 18 rebounds in the two games.
Loyek is fifth in the ACAC’s South Division, averaging 7.7 rebounds per game.
drode@reddeeradvocate.com
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