Volleyball recruit will hit the beach

He hasn’t yet stepped onto a gym floor in a Waterloo uniform, but Duncan Cairns is the pride of the Warrior volleyball program right now as he prepares to represent Canada at the Under-19 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Bermuda in September.

Cairns (right), a six-foot-three right-handed outside hitter from Georgetown, was a member of the Mississauga Pakmen Volleyball club this past season.“Duncan is a hard working player who understands the importance of a team and working together toward a common goal,” according to Fernando Pardo, who coaches the Warrior men’s squad.

Cairns will be entering a psychology program at Waterloo. He was selected to attend tryouts for the Canadian team in Toronto this past March after his performance at the 2005 Beach Volleyball Under-18 National Championships, where he finished second with partner Tom Podstawka.

"I am very excited to participate in this event,” he says now. “It is a chance to play with the best in the world. I am looking forward to the challenge and coming back to Waterloo with more experience and knowledge for my first year with the Warriors.”

"Duncan is consistently improving his skill level and physical strength," says Pardo. He recently was invited to the Team Ontario High Performance Centre, ranked as one of the best outside hitters in the province.

The Beach Volleyball World Championships will take place September 5-10, pretty much overlapping UW’s orientation week activities. The men’s volleyball season begins with an intrasquad game on September 29 and exhibition action in early October.

Cairns is just one of a promising cohort of recruits for the men’s team, according to an announcement from the athletics department a few days ago. In Pardo’s words, “These incoming freshmen have a solid balance between competitive athletics and academics. I am excited about the upcoming season and the skills and characteristics these student-athletes will bring to Warrior Volleyball.”

Other recruits include Barrett Schitka (chemical engineering), a right-handed libero from Calgary who was a Bronze Medalist at the 2006 Alberta Provincial Championships with his club team Canada West Dragons; Brad St. Pierre (civil engineering), a right-handed setter from Black Creek, British Columbia, who was a first team all-star at the 2006 Island Championships with Comox Valley Volleyball Club; Reid Cowper (kinesiology), a left-handed setter from Moorefield, Ontario, who was the most valuable player at Norwell District Secondary School in both volleyball and badminton; Nic Turnhout (kinesiology), a right-handed middle from Georgetown, who led the Mississauga Pakmen Volleyball Club to a 5th place showing at the 2006 provincial championships; and Andrew Thorpe (recreation and leisure studies), a right-handed setter from Ingersoll and a member of the Forest City Volleyball club, silver medalists at the Tier I U-18 national championships in 2006.

The women’s volleyball team has a cohort of promising recruits as well, according to coach Jason Grieve.

From Oakville comes setter Stephanie Ebreo (kinesiology), captain of the Peel Selects Volleyball Club for the past three seasons. From Surrey, British Columbia, comes middle blocker Megan McKenzie (science and business), who has competed for Elgin Park Secondary and for the Fraser Valley Volleyball Club.

From Sudbury comes left-handed outside hitter Jen Querney (arts and business), who played this season with the York Region Stingrays. And from Burlington comes middle blocker Kate Flanagan (recreation and leisure studies), a three-time MVP at Nelson High School.

The women’s volleyball season begins with exhibition games September 15 and 16, followed by a tournament that the team will host on September 29.

Back to top

UW works with Catholic school board to draw foreign students

An article by Barbara Aggerholm in last Thursday’s Record (“Board, UW work to attract foreign students”) says UW and the Waterloo Catholic District School Board signed an agreement on August 16 to work together on programming, marketing and recruitment to attract international visa students to Waterloo.

“International education, English-as-a-Second-Language training, co-op education, research collaboration, and teaching and learning technology are among the areas of co-operation,” the article continues. Both institutions want to increase their intake of international students.

“The agreement will also help more bright Grade 12 students to take a university course at UW while they're in high school. The University Co-op Education Program, offered through the Catholic board, St. Jerome's University, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, allows senior high school students to earn a university credit. The program helps UW attract top first-year students, UW president David Johnston said.”

 

Back to top