Rustlers Start Season at the Top of the National Rankings
The Lakeland Rustlers athletic teams competed in regular season competition this past weekend. Except for the curling teams, all of the Rustlers teams have started pursuing a playoff spot and, hopefully, a championship banner. The year has started exceptionally well for a couple of the Rustler programs seeing their teams sitting at the top of the CCAA National rankings after the first couple of weeks of competition.
The Rustlers women's volleyball team is coming off a great year. In the 2021-22 season, they won ACAC silver and narrowly missed punching their ticket to the national championships. This season the team has started the year with a 4 and 0 record, defeating their opponents three sets to 0 in each match.
Women's Volleyball third-year student athlete Jenay Varga commented about the team's start "It's amazing to be surrounded by such hardworking and relentless athletes every day. The environment created by both the coaching staff and the players at Lakeland College is one that generates success in all aspects of our athletic programs. I am beyond proud to be a Rustler."
In the first CCAA women's volleyball National ranking on October 25th, the Rustlers team is situated in 2nd, the top-ranked team from the ACAC. Only the 2021–22 National Champions VIU Mariners have ranked ahead of them. Although it is great to see the Rustlers ranked as one of the top teams in the country, head coach Austin Dyer took the ranking in stride.
"Even though the national rankings don't mean anything in the grand scheme of our season it is always cool to have your program recognized on the national stage. Having two female court sports teams ranked #1 and #2 at Lakeland College hopefully is an eye opener for all the student-athletes out there to understand the level that the Rustlers are competing at year in and year out. All of our athletic teams, men and women, are highly competitive, and seeing the rankings come out shows just how competitive Lakeland College Rustlers Athletics is. I couldn't be more proud of my athletes and all the hard work they put into our program as we continue, year to year, to strive for excellence."
Another Rustler program that has had success over the last few years is the women's basketball team, who earned the top stop nationally this past week. Starting the season after securing their first-ever trip to the national championships in the 2021 - 22 season and coming home with a national bronze, the team was excited to get the season started.
Third-year guard Alana Olson knows it is a long season but appreciates the accolades. "We are super excited about the early ranking; last season, we didn't accomplish this mark until February. As coach says, there is a lot of work left to be done, and we have four very tough games coming up in the next two weeks. We know the work that needs to be done, and with a very young team, our goal is to keep improving every week, and hopefully, at the end of the season, we will be in a position in ACAC playoffs to compete for a championship."
The Rustlers started the season with a two-game sweep of the 2021–22 national champion NAIT Ooks which moved the Rustlers to the top of the CCAA women's basketball rankings.
Coach Chris King commented on the early success of the Rustlers Athletics program "It is pretty special to have both our women's Basketball and women's Volleyball ranked 1/2 in the Nation; it is something that has never happened here and is a rare feat for any College. For Lakeland being such a small town situated in the middle of the prairies and to have such high-level teams, it's shows the work and time put in by athletes and coaches and the investment from the school and community into Rustler Athletics. I know both programs set very high standards for themselves, and it is great to see the early rankings reflect this."
It is early in the year, and many games are still to be played before the Conference championships. If the start is any indication, though, the Rustlers will again be battling for some hardware in the playoffs in February and March.