Lakeland Rustlers Women's Volleyball Golden again

We can officially say a volleyball dynasty exists at Lakeland College.

The Rustlers captured their second straight national title this month, winning in dominant fashion over the course of three matches at Red Deer Polytechnique, who hosted the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) Women's Volleyball Championship. Head coach Austin Dyer said it's replaced the previous season's squad as the best team he's ever coached.

"As dominant as we were last year, I gage it by our standard of play and we were even better," "If we are our healthy what level can we be playing at when we get to the end? Well, it was the highest level I've ever had a college team playing at and it was rewarding for me to see us playing at that high level."

"An amazing feeling doing that back-to-back, it hasn't really set in," setter Jana Laing said. "We had no drama on the team this year, it was just a good vibe."

5^th year middle blocker Kaylie Lueck, who is the last member of the program to have played on one of the title teams form 2017-2018, echoed Laing's sentiment.

"I couldn't have imagined this," she said. "I've always wanted to have that banner up there, but to do this back-to-back is bananas. I'm so grateful and proud of our team."

After another 18-1 regular season and second straight Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) title, in which the team was only pushed in four of the 19 matches, the Rustlers entered the CCAA tournament as heavy favourites, with the more favourable draw thanks to their #1 national ranking. At the awards banquet, the 4^th year setter Laing, fresh off of an All-Conference selection and ACAC Championship MVP, as named to the CCAA All-Canadian team.

Day one saw the Rustlers face the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) Blazers, who were making their first national appearance. Lakeland made the debut for the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) Champions a short one, winning in straights sets 25-11, 25-8, 25-12. Multiple players contributed to the win for the Rustlers, with 4^th year outside Lana Matthews leading the way with 15 kills, 4 digs and an ace, managing .52 per cent in hitting efficiency. Laing adding 18 assists and 2 aces.

This advanced the Rustlers to the semifinal round against the Capilano Blues, a surprise entry from the Pacific Western Athletic Conference (PACWest) in British Columbia. Just like the quarterfinal match, Lakeland looked as if they barely broke a sweat, sweeping the Blues 25-13, 25-13 and 25-8. Fourth-year outside hitter Jenay Varga led the team offensively with 15 kills, hitting 58 per cent, along with 9 digs and one of the Rustlers' 10 service aces. After not playing front row in the first semester due to a nagging injury, the 2023 Championship MVP was happy with how the rest of the season played out.

"It was a relief to be able to play again," Varga said. "I had some doubts earlier, but it was nice that Lana stepped into the P-1 position, so I could take on less volume for offence."

Right-side ate Avery Bates added nine kills, while Laing accumulated 33 assists, eight digs and three aces. 

This set up a gold medal match showdown with the PACWest champions, the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners. VIU, who had a 16-2 record heading into the postseason, had been on the receiving end of the Rustlers prowess back the 2017 CCAA semifinal, before returning the favour the following year and going on to win four straight national titles. A victory in this rematch would not only put Lakeland in a similar category of dominance as a program, but would give the ACAC the wildcard in next year's tournament.

Varga noted the team felt very comfortable in the RDP gymnasium, having played there for the ACAC Championship in both 2022 and 2023, as well as a road match earlier this year. The atmosphere was electric, thanks to hundreds of Lakeland fans who made the trip, including other Rustlers programs.

"It felt like we were playing at home," Varga said.

"We could barely hear each other," Dyer added. "To have that support was unreal."

The opening set of the final was the some of the best volleyball of the season, with the Mariners size and physicality matched against the Rustlers speed and precision. Lakeland gradually built a three-point lead, before the Mariners responded with several strong plays at the net to lead 21-19. However, the defending champs quickly earned a side out and rode great serving from defensive sub Gracyn Hay to win the set 25-21.

That finish had an effect on the confidence of both teams, bolstering Lakeland and deflating VIU, which played out the rest of the match. After the start of the second set was relatively back-and-forth, the Rustlers went on multiple serving runs to win 25-17. In the third, the entire building could feel the inevitability of the result, as Lakeland continued to put heavy service pressure on the Mariners, which turned into errors. On match point, a great running set from Laing to Matthews on the left-side sealed the contest at 25-10.

Dyer said it was easily the most relaxed he's ever been at a championship, of which there have been numerous appearances in the past decade.

"I got to sit back and enjoy it," he said. "Obviously I didn't go in thinking we would blow every team out, I just knew that if we played at the level we could, teams probably couldn't stay with us. We got better as the tournament went on and I wasn't worried about what the outcome would be."

Bates and Lana Matthews each had 10 kills, while Laing contributed 29 assists, nine digs, one kill and two blocks for the back-to-back champions, earning Player of the Match honours. Varga and Matthews were named to the All-Tournament 1^st Team, while Laing was the MVP.

"It was very evident that she's the best college setter in the country, she was the standout player in the tournament and that was said by everybody there," Dyer said of #5.

The Rustlers finish with a match record of 24-1, identical to last season. Their set win/loss record was almost a mirror image as well, going 73-6 compared to 74-4 in 2023. At the CCAA Championship, Lakeland women's volleyball's tournament went perfect, keeping their opponents to 13 points or less in all but two of the nine sets played.

Lueck, the lone member of the team that was a contributing member during the 2017-2019 for the Rustlers, said she couldn't have seen a better end to her collegiate career. As memorable as winning last year was, the satisfaction of pulling of the repeat is another feeling entirely.

"Do we have what it takes?" she said. "That was the topic of conversation for everyone for a year. So, heck yeah, we did that."

"Last year was the craziest one, after watching the group before me win, that's all I ever wanted, to be able to see a new banner up there next to the one the girls won in 2017. But to have so many family, friends and other Rustlers athletes watching, it was pretty special."

Despite the departure of key members in their MVP (Laing) and leader (Lueck), the Rustlers are poised to have more success in 2025, with multiple players entering their fourth or fifth season, including four All-Conference selections in Matthews, Varga, Bates and libero Seanna Trumier. Dyer noted he will have to adjust with this next chapter.

"As people move on, other people must slide in and that's where my job as the head coach every year is to address a puzzle," he said. "There's some pieces we'll have to put together for this puzzle, but two teams from the ACAC get to go next year, so that increases our chances."

"Fingers crossed I can get those new players in the lineup to get to a level that will allow us to get back there again."

And while that vision of the future has also been present in the minds of the players, Varga said they are trying to stay in the present.

"It's something you think about, you now, how cool would it be if we could do it a third time," she said. "At the moment, we've been trying to enjoy this one while we have. But it would be very cool [to three-peat] that's for sure."

This is the third national title for the women's volleyball program at Lakeland College, adding to four ACAC Championships. It's the first back-to-back win at the CCAA Championship and the first time a Lakeland program has remained the top seed in the national rankings from start to finish in a season.