Hamilton, ON- As the McMaster Marauders women’s volleyball team took the court against the Western Mustangs on Dec. 12, Emma McKinnon heard what her teammates and coaches were discussing.
They talked about playing with more urgency and having a no mercy attitude – especially as they built their lead. “Not really letting them coming back in at all,” McKinnon said.
What did that mean for the third-year outside hitter? Demanding the ball – either with her words or in her head.
McKinnon can feel the urgency as she calls for the ball and then attacks it. She did so against Western, tying fellow outside hitter Olivia Julien with a team-high nine kills as the Marauders won in straight sets. They didn’t let the Mustangs mount a comeback.
The Milton native played a key role in that. She’s been a key player for the Marauders since her rookie season in 2021. She’s now an even better one than ever before.
To understand how McKinnon is playing, let’s go back to last season. She was dealing with a knee and then an ankle injury – missing much of the first half of the season. She made her comeback in January and was thrown right into the heat of competition. She found it hard to get a mojo going.
Then the season ended as the weather turned warmer. Last summer, McKinnon was able to get into training. She worked hard on her skills. Soon, she found herself getting into a rhythm. Soon she got her mojo going.
When McKinnon has her mojo, she feels calm. She felt in with her team as well – how they never felt like they were down. How they knew they could always win the next point.
A goldfish memory. That’s what Julien dubs it. Julien notices McKinnon always moving onto the next play. She’s always doing so with a smile, always positive. When Julien makes a mistake, McKinnon will tell her: “Don’t worry. It’s okay.” Julien feels reassured when she hears that. “She’s just like a ray of sunshine,” she added.
Marauders head coach Nathan Janzen describes her as even keeled. She’s not fazed by her struggles or her great moments. He knows how she sees the game. He sees her taking feedback so well. So Janzen will challenge her by telling her how to get better.
“She’s a learner. She wants to get better,” Janzen noted. “She wants to be the best version of herself.”
She does so with hard work and determination. Like when she was working this past summer on her strength and training, which helps her avoid injury. To avoid what she experienced last season. “She doesn’t just leave it to hope,” Janzen said. “She does something about it.”
When McKinnon does so, she goes all in, according to the head coach. That meant working on getting stronger to withstand the rigors of a full season. That meant doing all the little things for that to happen.
McKinnon has stronger legs than before, Janzen noticed. The strength to withstand jumping 100 to 150 times a game. She has stronger shoulders as well. The strength to withstand all those attacks.
When McKinnon committed to doing so, she had the support of the McMaster strength and conditioning staff, including performance coach Dylan Whitbread.
“When Emma says ‘I’m all in’,” Janzen recalls. “Dylan responds: ‘Me too. Let’s get to work.’”
During those summer days, McKinnon focused on her attacking. She worked on opening up more to get more power with her attacks. She worked over and over on getting her swing just a little bit faster and harder.
She threw a lot of tennis balls and low weight balls before even touching a volleyball. McKinnon became more used to her arm swing by repeating it over and over and over again…
Sometimes, she would train her swing for an hour before actually hitting a volleyball. Once McKinnon did so, she found it paying off.
The motion was already in her head. It was easy for her to replicate it during a practice or game.
McKinnon also worked on her passing by getting to balls faster with her feet. She’s seen the improvement with her attacking and her footwork this season. She notched a season-best 13 kills in a win over Nipissing on Jan. 6.
When McKinnon made her comeback around this time last year, she already visualized what was about to happen. The self-described visual learner pictured herself hitting those shots before doing so in practice and then in games.
A year later, McKinnon is still visualizing. Before their game against Western, she pictured herself pressing on her block. She saw in her mind the way she would turn her hands so the ball would land inbounds off her blocks.
She started using visualizing last year when she was sidelined and couldn’t play. She thought about it a lot. Since then, she’s gotten better at it. She’s been able to implement it during her games and practices. She can even do so in the middle of a game as well.
McKinnon will think about a point that just happened. She take a moment to think about what she can fix or do better. Then she’ll visualize how she’ll do so in the following plays.
There was a moment against Western when she tipped the ball too low as the Mustangs’ blockers swatted it down. McKinnon knew she needed to tip it higher or make a different shot the next play.
With a newfound streak of health and growth, McKinnon said she’s having more fun this season. She feels a different type of enjoyment with this year’s team.
McKinnon sees them gelling so quickly with all those rookies and transfers coming in. She keeps on swinging, attacking and improving. She still has that smile on her face and those images in her head. She has that mojo inside her as well.
Featured Image: Kevin Lassel/McMaster Athletics