Player Highlight: Emma Jeffs, Women’s Volleyball

Volleyball fans looking for aspirational stories in the ACAC don't have to look far thanks to Emma Jeffs.

The fifth-year middle from Peace River heads into this weekend preparing for the visiting NWP Wolves and the wave of emotions ahead for her and fellow seniors Avery Bates and Seanna Trumier. All three will be acknowledged Saturday afternoon in the Lloyd Campus Gym.

Jeffs said each week of the semester has shown visible improvements for the group since they returned from the Christmas break.

"It felt like practices were intense, but we'd get to a game and no one was quite there the same way mentally," she said. "After our last two matches [against TKU], I'm feeling confident we're back to where we were."

While she's a pillar of consistency in her role as a starting middle, Jeffs' road to getting on the court for the Rustlers was anything but normal.

"When I was 17-18, I was ready to be done with competitive volleyball," she said. "Coming off a bad high school season during COVID, I was just going to come to campus for two years."

Fortunately for both Jeffs and Lakeland, she attended a Rustlers volleyball summer camp, something she had done several times before. While there, head coach Austin Dyer asked if she was interested in playing, since he had several players leaving the program. While she quickly enjoyed the experience, Jeffs said she was under no illusions about ever getting on the court during a match.

"Austin told me when he took me on the team, he didn't think I was ever going to play," she said. "And I knew that going in, that I wasn't going to start, which made me work harder."

The next five years became a perfect anecdote for volleyball coaches to use for future athletes. Jeffs remained at the back of the lineup for two years, never close to being a starter, but did everything she could physically and mentally to manifest her goals on the court.

"Her development, not just generally as a player, but to be able to start and contribute, has been tremendous," Dyer said. "Her being a student of the game and hanging in there to learn, where's she progressed to, is incredible."

"Assistant coach Matt Peck always like to tell his club athletes about this," Jeffs laughed. "After every single practice my first two years, I would literally write on a sticky note what my coaches told me to do and I would have that on my white board in my room. I just kept sticking with it, even as I wasn't seeing immediate results."

By her third year, she began to get a few opportunities. By her fourth year, she started on the best team in the country, playing a big part in their third straight national championship. Jeffs maintains that spot, with the added responsibilities of being a fifth year athlete.

A speedy and steady blocker, she credits her teammates pushing her over the past five years, as well as her roommates during the last five months. Jeffs recently became engaged, while also starting her teaching practicum at College Park and continuing to train with the team.

"It's a lot of time management to stay organized, get my meal prep done," she said. "That comes with experience."

Dyer noted that she's poised to make an impact when she finishes her playing career and begin a new one.

"Given her nurturing side, how willing she is to work with kids and give back, I think she's going to do very well as an elementary teacher," he said.

In her nearly five years of training and competing, Jeffs has experienced plenty as a student-athlete. And yet, despite numerous titles and winning moments, her takeaway from the overall experience is simple, a lesson passed down by several Rustler greats before.

"All that really matters is that you're a good teammate," she said. "Doesn't matter how good a player you are, but that people remember how you treated them. People might think 'wow, that person was good on the court,' but what players and supporters talk about more is the memories they have had with each other."

Emma Jeffs finishes her fifth and final year of eligibility this season, along with her Bachelor of Education via the University of Calgary. She and the rest of the women's volleyball team kick off the weekend's events at 6:00 pm Friday night against the NWP Wolves. Match time for their Senior Day is 1:00 pm Saturday, with the ceremony to follow after the match.