Brendan Thielmann and the
Volleyball Wesmen Battle to
Stay Healthy
By Scott Taylor, Photos by Kelly Morton/University of Winnipeg
University of Winnipeg men’s volleyball
coach Larry McKay has a problem. He
knows his team has enough talent to
at least challenge the best teams in
Canada West. Trouble is, his top players
just don’t be able to stay healthy.
Brendan Thielmann goes
high for the spike
“We have a middle of the pack team
in Canada West,” said a forthright
McKay. “But if we can stay healthy,
we can nibble at the teams at the top.
Trouble is, we haven’t been able to stay
healthy.”
At press time, the Wesmen were 3-1
in Canada West, tied with strong teams
at Manitoba and Saskatchewan and
just behind undefeated Trinity Western.
But as successful as they’ve been,
they’ve had to do it without some of
their best players.
“Casey Schouten, one of our most
experienced players, maybe our
best player, had a stress fracture
and it wasn’t healing so he had an
operation and he’s out until February
at least,” said McKay. “David
Bommersbach, one of our
top outside hitters has been
playing with and injury and
or 6-foot-6 middle Garrett
Jones just fractured his
thumb, so we’re fighting to
stay competitive without
some of our top players.”
These days, McKay has
been heading into battle
with a courageous 6-foot-3
Bomm ersbach taking over
in the middle and 6-foot-4
Taylor Howe and 6-foot1 Brendan Thielmann
outside. It’s been working
and the threesome has been
successful, but it is a tad
undersized.
It’s why McKay has so
much respect for all three of
them and it’s why Thielmann
is the team captain.
Thielmann is a fifthyear outside hitter who has a huge
heart and an outstanding serve. He’s
being playing volleyball since Grade
7 when he learned the game at John
Henderson School. He played for the
WinMan Club in Grade 8 and then
moved to the varsity lineup at Miles
Macdonnell High School.
Five years ago, he chose the
University of Winnipeg and hasn’t
regretted a moment of that decision.
“When I was at Miles Mac, I’d
heard great things about the program
and about Larry (Coach McKay),”
Thielmann said. “Larry’s been an
extremely good coach and a really good
guy. It’s great when you get to play in
a program and you like your coach so
much. I just think he’s a great guy to
play for.”
Thielmann brings what he calls, “a
calm presence,” to his team. As McKay
pointed out, he works just as hard at
being the team captain as he does at
his skills – and he works hard at his
skills.
“I just try to do things on the floor as
best I can,” Thielmann said modestly.
“I try to contribute to the team any way
I can.”
Although he’s listed on the team
roster at “6-foot-3,” Thilemann himself
says he’s more like “6-foot-1.” He’s
rather small for a U Sport-level outside
hitter, but as McKay says, “He gets the
job done.”
“I guess the best part of my game
is my service skills,” Thielmann said.
“I’d have to say that’s the biggest asset
I bring to my team. I work at my serve
all the time. I’m aware that a lot of
players get good at something and they
might not work that hard on a skill they
already do well, but I work really hard
at my service skills. There are always
things I can do better.”
The U of W is an historically strong
volleyball program and McKay has
been there for a lot of it – this is, in fact,
his 27th year at the helm. The Wesmen
have won the national championship
seven times, but they haven’t won since
2007.
This year, Coach McKay calls his
team’s chances, “reasonable,” as long as
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