Hamilton, ON- Jenna Woock hadn’t been injured before – at least not to this extent. So, when the McMaster Marauders fifth-year middle injured her foot this preseason, she learned about what it would require. She learned what she missed.
It was a new experience for the Richmond Hill native who – through all her years in high school, the University of Toronto and professionally in Hungary – hadn’t really missed any time with injuries.
So, when she missed the rest of the preseason and the start of the regular season, she knew she had to be patient with herself. She knew she had to work hard to get back. So, she did.
When she was working her way back – first at practice, then in games – she took it in steps, literally. At first, it was knowing she couldn’t jump that high in the air to smash balls or block them. Woock did what she could to score. She did what she could to support her teammates in other ways. “Keeping everyone else up,” she noted. “Making sure everyone else is performing good.”
Her teammates also supported her while she was on the sidelines. In practices, they would come over and talk with her – ask her how she’s doing. They would text her as well. Woock felt very nice inside that they supported her and cared about her.
So, when Woock made her return against the Windsor Lancers on Nov. 17, she was back on the court among those teammates. She’s always loved competing with a team towards a common goal.
Woock played in all three sets against Windsor, finishing with 9 kills, three digs and two blocks. She was doing so with her fellow Marauder players. She was winning with them as they swept the Lancers in three sets.
When it came time for her first home game back – against the Toronto Metropolitan (TMU) Bold on Nov. 25 – she enjoyed it as well. The match went the distance with TMU prevailing three sets to two. Woock felt good because of how hard of a battle the game was.
With the teams trading points and sets going down to the final points, she found herself playing instead of thinking. She had no time to really think. She felt back to her normal feeling of playing again – of fighting alongside her teammates.
Woock knows that feeling from her time at Toronto, where she and the Varsity Blues reached great heights. She was an OUA East MVP and U SPORTS All-Canadian while her team captured back-to-back OUA titles in 2019 and 2020.
When she turned pro and played in Hungary in 2021, she enjoyed her time but the feeling wasn’t the same. It felt more like a job. Come in and do your work, as Woock describes it.
“Here you really build a community and I missed that,” she said. Woock knew the McMaster volleyball community from long ago.
Her older sister Rachel played for the Marauders. She knew Tim Louks, Nathan Janzen and the other coaches. She came to McMaster volleyball camps growing up. She heard good things about the program. There was the Medical Radiation Sciences program as well – which she’s now studying.
So, when it came time to make her decision to return to university volleyball this season, all those things factored in.
Back in the heart of McMaster’s campus during that game against TMU, Woock was playing like she had in the past.
She was going up for blocks, smashing down kills and doing whatever she could to contribute. Janzen knows how hard she’s worked to return to the court. How she’s giving everything she has to help the team win.
“Especially in her fifth year, she knows what’s at stake right now,” Janzen said. He knows her experience and can see it against TMU. When she puts herself in position with blocking, serving and attacking.
“TMU was trying to adjust to her,” Janzen noted. He was excited to see that. He knows how well she sees the game.
Woock noticed how TMU was playing through their left side and making changes with it, according to her head coach. She anticipates things as well, seeing where the Bold are setting the ball. She communicates with her teammates.
Janzen sees the work Woock puts in as a middle blocker defensively. How she makes the perfect read and block move at times. How she might not even be rewarded for it. How many might not even notice the work she puts in.
Janzen does though. He’s known Woock since she was a kid from all the time she’s spent on campus. He and the Marauders recruited Woock in high school. He also knows how much it means for her to be at McMaster for her last season – in some ways a homecoming given her connections.
“I think it was a hard decision when she went to Toronto and I think it’s cool that she’s come back,” Janzen said.
The Marauders ended up falling just short against the Bold – dropping the final set 16-14. Woock saw them fight all the way until the end. She was in the middle of that fight alongside them – right where she wanted to be.
Woock had eight kills, eight digs and a team-high five blocks. She felt the excitement of being in around of a big crowd at the Burridge Gym. She found herself getting energy from her teammates – especially important in long rallies. She felt what it was like to try to keep up her stamina during those rallies.
Woock also felt how much fun she had. Deep down inside, she felt how cool it was to compete with her team in this environment. To be surrounded by 20 other people who want something as bad as she wants it. Who want to work as hard as she does for it.
She and her teammates were back on the court doing so. That feeling was there again – regardless of the result. The fun was there as well.
And really, in that moment, who could ask for anything more than that?
Featured Image: Kevin Lassel/McMaster Athletics