Dhami rewrites history in win over Rattlers
MEDICINE HAT, ALTA., (Nov. 23, 2018) — Simran Dhami made Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) history Friday night.
In helping her SAIT Trojans women's volleyball team beat the host Medicine Hat College Rattlers 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-18), the fifth-year middle became the ACAC's all-time blocks leader, surpassing the total of 232 set by Lakeland College's Michelle Laing in 2016.
"It's weird to think that I hold an ACAC record now, but it's exciting and I am happy about it," said Dhami, a Bachelor of Business Administration student from Golden, BC. "I have been fortunate enough to not have had a serious injury, knock on wood, but I just like being out there for my team. That's what it comes down to - doing what you can to help your team win games."
The Trojans move to 8-3 on the season. Med Hat falls to 6-5.
In thinking about her four and a half years at SAIT, the 5-foot-10 Dhami could not have imagined playing that long, let alone rewriting the history books.
"There is such a great community at SAIT; I love the Athletics Department and I love my team," she said. "I guess it's something I did not want to let go of any sooner than I had to."
Head coach Art O'Dwyer praised Dhami for her durability over the four-plus seasons she has patrolled the net for him.
"When I think about the amount of times she has jumped, it's astronomical that she has stayed as healthy as she has, but she came in and developed her game over the last five years to become a premier blocker," he said. "She just keeps working at it and working at it. She deserves every bit of this."
In their game, the Trojans had a strategy and stuck to it, beating a tough Rattlers team who recently split a weekend series with first-place Briercrest College.
"One of our goals was to use their block," he explained. "We did a really good job of hitting off their block and making sure they couldn't dig it because they are as tough defensively as anyone in the league."
Dhami finished with five kills and the one block she needed to set the record. Teammate Jadyn Leong (2nd year, Calgary, Emergency Medical Technician) added a game-high 13 kills to go along with eight digs and three service aces.
The teams will finish their weekend set Saturday night at set. First serve is set for 6pm.
"We know they're going to come out tomorrow with some adjustments, so we'll have to look at what we can do to be better," O'Dwyer finished. "Getting better every time out is what we have set our minds to."
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