Post-season drought could end this year for Voyageurs

What was once an annual late winter sojourn for the Laurentian Voyageurs basketball team has become a much more elusive goal in recent years. Some veterans of the team have yet to experience OUA post-season play, an outcome that appears set to change in roughly six week's time.

With a record of 4-5 and ten regular season games remaining (entering their weekend homestand last Friday vs Brock and McMaster), coach Jason Hurley and company are well-positioned to end this abbreviated drought.

Few members of that company might be more excited than a trio of players who have travelled this road together for some time — dating back to their days with the Barrie Royals, prior to them entering post-secondary studies at Laurentian University in 2011.

Devenae Bryce, Adrienne Moreau and Danielle Harris have accounted for more than 60 per cent of the Voyageur offence this year. They're the only members of the team averaging more than ten points a game.

Each brings a unique mix of skills and character to the team.

"I know that for me, my confidence has improved a lot," said Bryce, a 21-year-old student in the Forensic Sciences program. "In the past, because we hadn't had much success, we didn't expect results. Now, we know that we can win."

Moreau backs that expression of confidence.

"Coach Hurley always talks about 'buying into the program,' and I think everyone is starting to believe that," Moreau said. "We're a close-knit team. We want success for each other, and for ourselves."

A graduate of the men's basketball program at Laurentian, Hurley was vocal from day one in his belief that a special identity needed to be created with Voyageur teams, one that embodies the feeling of pride he experienced as a member of squads that could hold their own against the Canadian university elite.

"That passion and quick play that he brings has really started to work with this team," said Harris. "Jason's style is just a lot faster, more up tempo, almost guard focused, which works well for me."

It may have taken a little longer than hoped to approach the level of OUA competitiveness they aspired to, but the fact is, the team is doing it. Each time they hit the court, each time they practice or play a game, they improve.

"There's no better place to play than at Laurentian," said Harris. "Not just the students, but the people from the community who come out and have a real interest in the game."

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