History was made...again
History was made, again, a phrase that is becoming repetitive for Rustlers Athletics.
Women's volleyball, a program already decorated with tremendous accomplishments over the past decade, has reached even higher heights in capturing their fourth straight national title, putting them in a category that few CCAA programs have achieved. The Rustlers accomplished the feat by winning another three playoff matches last week at Providence University in Manitoba, the hosts of the women's volleyball CCAA Championship, capped by a 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-22) victory in the final.
"It honestly still hasn't fully hit me yet," fifth year captain and Championship MVP Avery Bates said. "Ending my career like this feels so unreal. If you would've told me six years ago that it would end winning four national championships in a row, I wouldn't have believed you."
"Like every championship, I'm just very happy for my athletes," Head coach Austin Dyer added.
The team arrived at the start of the week and were able to enjoy training and site seeing prior to their quarterfinal matchup against the host Providence Pilots. Lakeland won the match handily in straight sets (25-18, 25-15, 25-21), led by Bates' 15 kills, 6 digs and 4 blocks. This set up a Semifinal matchup with the Humber Hawks, the team Lakeland dispatched in last year's final, but sporting a very different roster.
Early on, the Hawks showed some resistance at the net, but the Rustlers quickly established themselves as the better squad, winning 3-0 again (25-13, 25-18, 25-21). Middle Raegan Nicol, who won Player of the Game with 6 kills and 5 blocks, noted how quickly the week was moving.
"It went by so fast, I couldn't believe it was the final already on Saturday!"
That left a day off ahead of the national final, where the Rustlers faced the Lynx du' Edouard-Montpetit, the RSEQ champions. The Lynx had a much tougher road to the gold medal match that week, coming from behind to win five sets against both the ACAC finalist Augustana Vikings and the PACWest winning VIU Mariners, but gave the Rustlers as a good fight as any team they've faced in four years.
The match started with hard hitting and spectacular defence from Edouard-Montpetit, resulting in a 17-25 Lakeland loss. Nicol said the experience from two weeks ago, where the Rustlers narrowly edged out the RDP Queens in a five-set quarterfinal classic, helped prepare them for this moment.
Going to the ACAC Championship we may not have been the underdog, but we were ranked like the underdog," she said. "Red Deer was a very good team and that was an important moment for us where we felt tested. We had to rely on each other when things weren't going our way and we were in unfamiliar territory.
"That was the first time I've played a fifth set in my career. To come out on the other side of that, at that point we knew it was our control."
Lakeland responded with a 25-20 victory in the second, but found themselves down 13-20 in the third. Steady defensive play backed by clutch serving from Bates and Nicol helped the Rustlers cut the deficit to a single point, but the Lynx answered swiftly to go up 24-22. A service ace and an attack error tied the match, where both teams then traded strong swings until Lakeland emerged at 28-26.
"The final was a crazy match," Dyer said. "Lots of ups and down's, excitement. The athletes did an amazing job of keeping their composure and sticking with it all the way to the end."
In the fourth, Lakeland showed signs of pulling away, but the Lynx continued to fight, showing spectacular effort defensively. Finally, late in the set, a swing from Carly Hawryluk ended the match at 25-22.
"You can feel the anticipation in the gym as match point creeps up," Nicol said. "For it all to be done in one point is crazy, as you can miss it if you're not looking around and enjoying it."
Left-side Olivia DeDecker, one of the additions to this year's roster, said she didn't know how to process the final seconds.
In the moment I didn't know how to feel, I was so overwhelmed," she said. "Playing with our seniors for the last time, we had worked out butts off, so it was great to achieve what we had worked for."
"Avery, Emma Jeffs and Seanna Trumier all played great the whole tournament," Dyer said of the fifth year players. "I'm very proud of the way they led our group and it was a great way for them to finish their careers."
Bates said the payoff of having gone through tough days and facing adversity during the season made the moment that much sweeter.
"Our team is so close and being able to finish this season with them, doing something this big, means everything," she said. "This put into perspective for me what it means to be a family within sport."
Bates had a match high 22 kills and 15 digs in the win to earn the MVP nod, while Trumier was named a 2nd Team All-Star and DeDecker and setter Katelyn Mazurkewich were named 1st Team.
The victory puts Lakeland in the same company as Sherbrooke, VIU and FX Garneau, as the only programs to win four straight national titles. In the days since, the players have thanked their teammates, coaches and fans for supporting them.
"I'm really grateful, for the program, my teammates and coaches and for the role I got to play," Bates said. "You don't always get to choose how your career ends, so to go out like this, it's something I'll carry with me forever."
This sets up another exciting, prospective season for the women's program. Losing three key players will require a new look in the starting lineup again, as they try to become the first women's team to win five straight, amid several programs coming back strong in the fall. Dyer said for now, the team is going to stay in the moment.
"Next year we will look a little different, but we're going to do everything we can to be the best team we can be," he said. "The rest, we will leave for September."