Player Highlight: Raegan Nicol, Women's Volleyball

In each of the past four years of Lakeland's dominance in women's volleyball, players, coaches and fans have seen an increasingly impressive level of play from Raegan Nicol

The 6'1 middle blocker helped the team capture it's fourth straight national title, earning an ACAC Championship All-Star nod along the way. Nicol said pride was the first thing that comes to mind when reflecting on the season.

"It's awesome every year, but this year, I'm so proud of my team and the work we've put in to get the outcome we wanted and dreamed of," she said. "Feeling like your hard work pays off is such a sigh of relief and strong feeling of excitement."

Nicol had a unique journey to college athletics, as she only played a year and a half of club, originally competing in ringette. During the COVID pandemic, the only opportunity to play sports was a five-week volleyball camp. She made the 18U B team and trained once a week in the winter. Then in the summer of 2021, going into grade 12, she went to visit her brother, who was attending Vermilion Campus and got attend the Rustlers summer camp in August. There, Nicol met Taylor and Austin Dyer and got invited to attend one of women's team's practices.

"So, I went and practiced with them and then I signed my letter of intent that week," she said. "It was lucky the way things worked out."

"I come from a 1A high school, with eight girls wanting to play volleyball and a basketball team with six girls. I had no game film, so fortunate to have Austin see me in person when he did."

"Over the past four years Raegan has transformed into one of the most feared middle blockers in the ACAC," Dyer said. "She is committed to do everything the right way and it has shown in preparation and play."

Her first season on Lloyd Campus was a redshirt season, where she was part of the first of four straight CCAA gold medals. Nicol credits that experience for developing her current mindset, as she got to watch pro's at work.

"We were not stressed on game day, as we don't anything to do besides cheer and do stats," she said with a laugh. "We'd just watch them execute a game plan, after studying and training on how to beat the other team. You also realize that those girls are confident in their skills and know what they need to do, which rubs off on younger players."

Over the next few years, Nicol went on to become a key contributor to the Rustlers success, providing physicality, athleticism, and precision to the middle position. In 2025, she was named North Division All-Conference and accrued multiple tournament All-Star awards. Amidst that success, she said she had to learn to enjoy the feeling of playing the sport while competing.

"I get caught feeling I'm late to volleyball and that I need to be more, and that takes away from the joy of the game," Nicol said. "Your teammates can sense something is off. This year I've overcome that, I know my role, I can execute what my role is."

"This year when we were down in the ACAC quarterfinal against Red Deer, I was almost laughing. I just remember thinking that it's something we're going to remember, I was looking around and saying to the girls, let's just play for each other."

Off the court, Nicol focuses on her studies and coaching, as the team runs the Rustlers Youth Volleyball programming during the season. She said it's allowed her to develop skills she can't spend as much time on in practice, while also giving her a chance to aid the next generation of young athletes.

"Coaching has been another way to study the game," Nicol said. "Teaching someone to do something it gives you a chance to do it yourself. As a middle blocker, I don't need to have as much precision with skills like passing. But coaching I can help someone else and that's helped me level up with the moments where I do have to pass or play defence."

"Also, you feel like you want to pass it on, help other athletes have the same feeling as you when they are on the court. I was not a younger athlete playing volleyball, so it's cool to work with younger kids and see them grow. I get to remind them, I didn't start playing till grade 11, so they have lots of time to grow and improve."

Nicol plans to continue this run with the team, as she has two more years of school and two years remaining of eligibility. While she and her teammates are sad to see fifth years Emma Jeffs, Seanna Trumier and Avery Bates leave, she's excited for the challenge of figuring out how to win another title.

"I'm right in the middle, not the oldest, not the youngest, and I get to see the older players graduate and the excitement from younger players," Nicol said. "People stick around 5-7 years, so we always have an older team and new people coming in aren't necessarily first year players."

"Our b-side plays against the best team in the country, so we are only as good as our b side because of the work they put in. If those are the girls playing on the court next year, credit to them, because they're awesome."

And Dyer noted that Nicol will have a big role to play in the team's push for five.

"Raegan is the next leader of our team and I'm excited how far we can get her as an athlete."

Raegan Nicol just finished her third year of eligibility and is in her fourth year at Lakeland College, taking her Bachelor's of History, through the Athabasca-Lakeland collaboration program.