November 6, 2010: The Huskies lost in straight sets to the visiting Brandon Bobcats.

The 38-year-old was recently appointed interim head coach of the Huskies women’s volleyball team — a team that has finished the last four seasons with an average .153 win percentage — following Leslie Irie’s decision to leave the university after a 13-year coaching stint.

The situation is similar to the one Grieve faced in 2002 with the University of Waterloo.

“I inherited the weakest record in the Ontario University Athletics conference for a few years running when I went to Waterloo,” said Greive. “It was a really challenging situation.”

He introduced development camps for future recruits and improved Waterloo’s record from one win in 18 games during his first year to nine wins in 19 games his final year.

“By the time I’d left Waterloo in 2006, I was pretty proud of the fact that I’d left a very strong framework with a lot of young athletes to hand off to the new coach.”

At the University of Saskatchewan, however, Grieve does not see the same rebuilding task as he had in Waterloo.

“In Waterloo, I was basically starting from the ground up — creating a foundation and starting brand new. With Saskatchewan, there is a great framework in place to build upon.”

Grieve has lived in Regina since 2006 and is familiar with the province’s volleyball program.

“I worked for Saskatchewan Volleyball and oversaw all the provincial team programs, athlete development and coaching development within the province,” he said, using the Huskies top new recruit Alex Van Dyke from Portland State as an example of Saskatchewan’s ability to recruit.

“During my first recruiting trip for Waterloo, I had a parent ask me what school I was from and the parent didn’t even know Waterloo had a volleyball program.”

Grieve has yet to go through that with the Dogs and hopes his interim position eventually becomes permanent.

“Canada West is the best conference in the country and my goal is to be a long-term coach here for the Huskies.”

“I’d be disappointed if that wasn’t his goal,” said Huskies athletic director Basil Hughton. “He is going to bring enthusiasm and a fresh start. We’re excited to have him.”

“I see this as an opportunity to show my coaching strengths and, at the least, improve the program,” concluded Grieve. “It’s going to be a fun year.”

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photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf