The Camosun Chargers women’s volleyball team struggled a bit in the first half of the season, but they’re is determined to make a solid comeback during the latter half. The team has undergone some notable changes in recent history, losing their coach Brent Hall back in April, with Scott Freeburn taking his place. The players on the team also shifted around and all three team captains left Camosun before the start of this season: Avery Hansen and Paige Roslinsky both moved on to the University of Victoria, and Thalia Cooke is playing for the University of Saskatchewan.
Current captains Edyn Van Brabant and Olivia Trionfi have been leading the team to success in the last few games. And while their performance on the court suffered in the first half of the season, Van Brabant is sure that they can make it to provincials if they keep up the steady improvements for the last few months.
“I think that we’re still in the upper checkmark, not as good as we can be, but we’ve definitely improved since the beginning of the year,” says Van Brabant. “There’s still work to be done, so much work, like you can never be high enough. We’re probably like in the middle to being closer to that provincial mark, but I think we’re improving super fast.”
The team has been through a lot of changes this past year and have adapted to all of them, bouncing back within the second half of the season to try to end strong. Van Brabant says that the players are happy to be playing for the Chargers.
“We’re all super grateful that we have this opportunity… It’s something that we don’t take for granted,” says Van Brabant. “And just because we know that people pay to be on college teams, and we appreciate the support from people who watch the games and things like that.”
Things are also looking up for the men’s volleyball team. There were some games lost in October, but it seems that in subsequent games their teamwork and skills have become stronger.
“It’s not the start we’re used to having, usually we come out of the games a bit hotter, but with a younger team now we’re still adjusting. We’re hoping that the second semester goes better,” says captain Jake Bolton. “I think things are going to be going well for us in the second semester. We didn’t have the start we wanted to the start of the year. But I think that’s just going to motivate us more for the second semester.”
There was a big shift in players as the team received four rookies and two transfers at the start of the season. Thanks to the guidance of their head coach and the leadership from their three team captains—Bolton, Matt Rapin, and Edvard Adolfsen—the new players seem to be settling in nicely with the others, and that teamwork is really starting to show on the court.
“We’ve been in transition for the last few years; we had an old team for like three or four years, so it’s been kind of a rebuild lately,” says Bolton. “I’d say we’re nearing the end of that and we’ve got a bright future ahead.”
The team has been training, both individually and as a whole, several times a week to continue improving their skills to perform better on the court.
“We train Monday through Thursday in two-hour training sessions as a team, and then there’s lifts on top of that,” says Bolton. “Outside of practice, we’re expected to lift two times a week and then one team lift as well. Three total—one with the team and then two individually. So, that’s a lot of work and it’s what the guys signed up for, and we all enjoy it.”
It looks like all that hard work is paying off, as the team has their eyes set on provincials. The players are confident that they can make it happen this year with just a little more effort.
“Currently we are one spot out of a provincial spot, but again I am very confident that we’ll work our way in,” says Bolton. “Nationals is a bit more difficult; it’s something we’ve missed the last two seasons. But I really do think we can get there; we’re just focused on making provincials first right now. And once we can do that and secure our spot there, then we’ll worry about the national championships. I’m very confident that we can get to both of those platforms if we put our minds to it.”
Bolton says that he hopes that the team continues to improve and perform better in the second half of the season in order to secure a spot in provincials, and he’s feeling optimistic.
“I’ve got nothing but confidence,” he says, “that we’re going to be doing better in the second semester.”