Hamilton, ON- As the McMaster Marauders women’s volleyball team embarked upon Edmonton in late December, Nathan Janzen wondered how the trip would affect their regular season.
The Marauders’ head coach could feel he and everyone else being torn away from their families as they sat in the airport on December 27 awaiting their flight westward.
“You don’t want to get on a plane,” Janzen recalled. “You don’t want to go to the airport on the 27th. And suddenly you get there.”
Suddenly, they found themselves with only each other’s company in the middle of winter in Alberta’s capital. Suddenly, they found themselves stuffed into a flight together before being stuffed into hotel rooms together as well. Suddenly they found themselves playing volleyball together…and losing their first game of the three-game tournament.
Suddenly, there came the moment where everything started to change. When it became clear to Janzen and others the influence the trip would have.
After McMaster lost in four sets to the UQAM Citadins on Dec. 28, they decided things needed to change. They hadn’t played well. So, the coaches and players held team meetings. The players then had their own meetings as well.
The verdict? They all needed to become team-first, according to Janzen. They’ve changed since then with the following two games of the Alberta tournament (a win over Calgary and a loss to Alberta) before four straight wins to kick off the second half of the OUA regular season.
Can you see the change? Look beyond the scoreboard. More so than the results, look at how they’re achieving them. They’re doing so together.
“Our team is playing for each other,” Janzen noted. “You can feel it. You can feel it right now.”
You can feel it from their warmups, their team talks and video sessions. From their games as well. The Marauders defeated the Nipissing Lakers in back-to-back games on the road before beating the Western Mustangs in two straight games at home on Jan. 12 and 13.
Outside hitter Maddy Lutes noticed their togetherness and composure. They all knew individually and as a team what they needed to do. “At no point even when we were down did I feel like we were actually losing,” Lutes said.
The Barrie native has worked on composure herself. She saw it from those around her as well. They rallied from losing the second set to Western on Jan. 13 to win the next two. Lutes saw how everyone was ready to play, despite any errors. “We were all very together,” she noted. “It was really, like great to experience.”
One player who felt that team unity was first-year outside hitter Olivia Julien. As often the youngest player on the court, Julien feels a bit over her head at times.
Being around her teammates though, she feels something else. She hears them talk about being selfless. So, when Julien feels the pressure and need to perform, she knows that comes from not only wanting to do so for herself but for them as well.
Those thoughts were in her head as she racked up kills and made plays throughout the two Western games. They were there as she stepped up to the service line with her team building their lead in the first game.
Julien knew they had the momentum amid a serving run. She knew how important it was to keep it going.
I cannot miss my serve. That would make me a selfish teammate, she thought. I can’t be going for the ace because it’ll look good for me. I have to keep steady pressure.
The Toronto native got closer with her teammates during their time in Edmonton. She felt them getting closer as a team as well.
With that closeness comes trust. Julien felt more and more the trust with them. She can feel them having her back. She could feel them picking up her – physically and emotionally.
That trust and belief in each other is vocalized. If we’re having problems in games, look to each other. Don’t look to the coaches, Julien recalls them saying.
“At the end of the day, the coaches aren’t going to be able to do anything,” she added. “It’s us on the court. Not them. We have a special bond. We just have so much trust with each other.”
That trust was tested during that December stretch. With OUA All-Star Sullie Sundara out injured, the team had to play without her. Sundara hasn’t played since the Dec. 2 game against the Guelph Gryphons.
Here we go, Janzen thought to himself once he first learned of the injury. His heart went out to Sundara. He knew how hard it was for her to be injured, to miss regular season games for the first time. “It’s a big struggle for her and I have so much empathy,” he noted. “All of us are trying to support her.”
Then came the task of planning and playing without her. Then, he started looking at the impact it’s had on the entire team. He sees that in their Edmonton trip.
A great development opportunity. That’s how Janzen coins it as. An opportunity for players to step up and take on different roles. An opportunity to truly see their depth.
Janzen knew how important having a deep rotation and not having a set starting lineup would be. Now that was being put to the test. “When injuries like this happen, it’s not the end of the world for this team,” he noted.
They worked through it with others stepped up in Sundara’s place. There was Julien, notching nine kills in the first Western game before following it up with 19 in the second one. There was Emma McKinnon notching nine kills as well in the first match. There was Lutes making an impact as a starter and then by coming off the bench.
Julien knows how big of a change it is. She sees them not putting as much pressure on their left sides to score. She’s sees them becoming more well-rounded, working with their other options.
That depth is something special, according to setter Lauryn Colpitts. Look at all the players they can bring off the bench. She feels the belief in those around her. The belief that whoever is out there can get the job done.
Janzen also knows how things have shifted since those meetings in late December. They are not a better team without Sundara. However, they are a more complete team, according to him. The experience has been great for their team dynamic.
He sees their depth players stepped up and saying: “No. I’m not just depth. I’m going to make a difference for this team.” He sees them doing so.
Janzen sees them taking in what he tells them about dreaming bigger and having higher expectations. Can’t you see how they’re dialing it in, how hard they’re working to improve during practice? Can’t you see how they plays itself out of the court come game time?
Maybe that’s fuelled from those meetings in Edmonton – especially the player-only ones. After all, Janzen admits he doesn’t think their team buy in doesn’t come from him. He’s super proud of them for the path they’ve taken though.
“As a team, they’ve decided that this is a great opportunity for them this year and they’re going to make the most of it – together,” he noted. “I think that’s pretty special.”
This new team dynamic means everyone – including Sundara. Janzen can’t help but notice her cheering as hard as anyone else. “She’s all in for this team too,” he added. “There’s power in that.”
There’s enjoyment as well. Coming out of those meetings, the players and coaches came to the same conclusion: this needs to be fun. After all, university volleyball is something they’ve all chosen to pursue. Janzen sees them having fun. For instance, when the team did a lip sync battle at the end of the trip.
“It was awesome,” Janzen recalled. “It was so much fun.”
By the time the Western games came around, Janzen knew the effect the trip had on his team. He finally had his answer.
“A lot of the work they’ve done for the benefit of the team is starting to show in how we prepare, how we train and how we compete,” he said. “It’s cool.”
Featured Image: Kevin Lassel/McMaster Athletics