One might think having a perfect record at the halfway point of the season would be great but for Aaron Schulha, there is another level expected to be reached.

“I think we need to be a little more stern in creating a team identity we are comfortable with and I think that’s going to help us be successful in February and March when we need to be successful,” explained the head coach of the Red Deer College Kings volleyball team.

The Kings are ranked number one right across the country but Schulha figures his team got away with a few wins in the first half.

“We had a bunch of five set victories in the first half,” he said. “In my opinion some of them shouldn’t have gone that far but on the flip side it was nice to be pushed early and often in the first half.”

Notre Dame graduate Tim Finnigan agreed.

“The first half we had a few wake-up calls, kind of character wins,” he said. “We kind of stayed off our high horse if you will, not as confident as we should be.”

Finnigan has been a pleasant surprise for the Kings and Schulha says he likes the progression he’s witnessed since the start of the season.

“Tim has developed a ton this year and he’s kind of taken the team on his back. He’s been our most vocal guy and our most consistent performer.”

From his own perspective Finnigan says he feels things are going in the right direction on the court for him and he likes the feeling.

“I’ve felt like I’ve come into a leadership role pretty good here and just playing right side my first two years I’m pretty confident on the left side now.”

He feels he brings some good offensive skills to the team and he’s working on a couple of areas to become a more well-rounded player.

With second half underway, the Kings have their sights set on the national championship, something which is a bit of a habit at this school. Finnegan believes this team can do it but some growing needs to be done in order to reach the bar which has been set very high by previous Kings squads.

“We’re pretty young, we’re kind of emotionally unstable on the court a bit and we just kind of control our side of the court and play our game and I think we’ll be fine. I’m confident we’ll be fine.”

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