Hamilton, ON- Akash Grewal stepped up to the service line with all eyes on her in the Burridge Gym. With the national championship on the line.

The third-year outside hitter is one of the best servers in the country. Her UBC Thunderbirds were tied at 23 with the Alberta Pandas in the fourth set of the finals of the U SPORTS women’s volleyball championship. She had just notched her team-high 14^th kill to set up this moment. The Thunderbirds were two points away from victory. Two serves possibly.

As Grewal walked towards the service line, she did what she always does. She bounced the ball a few times. She lifted her left arm straight out with the ball in her hand. She bent her right elbow, ready to launch.

She knew she had ebbs and flows with her serving this weekend. She had some aces and good serves earlier in the tournament but also some service errors.

When she reached the line this time, she knew what she wanted to do. This is my chance, she thought. I’m not giving this up. I want to take advantage of this.

Missing wasn’t an option in her mind. She rose up and hit the ball as hard as she could. It led to a Pandas attacking error. Then a Pandas timeout.

Now it was match point. All eyes were on her once again. She launched once again. Grewal watched Alberta libero Kalysta Knappett make a dig but the ball hit the pole.

Grewal fell to the floor. So did her teammates as they mobbed each other together in celebration. Grewal hugged third-year libero Victoria D’Acre.

Service ace. Match point. Championship point.

The Thunderbirds had repeated as national champions. They felt all the joy, gratitude and emotions of winning a national title. They celebrated the moment. They knew the work they put in to earn it. The adversity they endured along the way.

Their journey was a year in the making – and for some of them, even longer than that.

Grewal’s journey with the serve started last summer. The Vancouver native was a good server even before she arrived at UBC.

Fifth-year libero Kacey Jost remembers Grewal coming in during a recruiting trip and serving up absolute bombs. Serves that were blowing up her older teammates.

This girl’s got a crazy arm on her, Jost thought.

UBC Thunderbirds head coach Doug Reimer knows all the work she puts in the weight room to build her core strength to serve like that. She puts in so much work, he would have to talk her out of training sometimes. “You can take a day off if you’re tired,” he would tell her.

Grewal’s serve – with so much power – really picked up last summer. She was playing beach volleyball. She knows how tiring it is to do a jump serve.

So, she focused on her standing serve. She worked on her contact – trying to get as much power through it.

When fall came around, the team had some time to work on individual improvement before the season really got started. Grewal realized she could put so much more than just her arm power into her serve. She could put so much of her body, rotation and hips for power.

She worked at it. She put more torque into her serve. “That’s what brought me today,” she noted.

As Grewal stepped up to the line, fourth-year middle Claire Cossarini had all the faith in the world she would get the match point. Cossarini knows what an amazing athlete she is. She’s seen her in practice day in and day out. She’s seen her make those serves thousands of times.

So, when Grewal scored the winning point…

“Pure excitement,” Cossarini called it.

As Cossarini’s final university game came to an end that night, she felt how surreal the moment was. “A storybook ending,” she said. “I couldn’t have imagined my university career ending any other way.”

A career of so much learning over the past six years. A career of adversity and battling back through injuries. Along the way, Cossarini turned to her coaches and teammates. They were there for her when she needed them.

Cossarini felt how she was part of a family. She had never been part of such a special group like this. They went through the highs and lows together. They always stayed together – always having each other’s backs.

She saw everyone buying in and putting the team before themselves. “Us before me,” she called it. Even when it’s not one person’s moment, they will put others before themselves. That’s what creates that family environment.

An environment of trust and love for one another. One created by the coaches and alumni as well. The players will show up every day and work as part of that environment. Part of something bigger than themselves.

Cossarini knows how difficult it can be with the academic and athletic demands. There are highs and lows. Having those supportive teammates made things so much easier for her.

“I couldn’t imagine doing it with any other group or any other team,” she said. Cossarini pointed out how instrumental they were for her to even be here playing and celebrating the championship.

The game also marked the end of Jost’s university volleyball journey as well. On the court that night, you can see her leadership and demeanor. You can sense her swag and aura. Can you see where it comes from?  

Growing up in St. Albert, Alta, Jost’s mom instilled confidence in her. She was around Alberta Pandas players as a member of the Pandas Volleyball Club. She saw their leadership. She was around fellow libero Sam Patko and outside hitter Kiera Van Ryk in her first season at UBC in 2018.

Jost learned from Patko. Not only did she see how Patko made tough digs and tough balls. She saw how she connected with teammates and supported them. She saw how she smiled at her teammates. “Her presence was unmatched,” she said.

Jost learned from how Van Ryk carried herself as well. Van Ryk had a huge amount of pressure on her but she did so with grace. She connected with her teammates.

The two of them were re-united on the Canadian senior national team this past summer. Jost was the newcomer again – “the baby,” she called it – and Van Ryk the experienced one. Jost benefited from that.

Coming back to UBC this fall, she was the leader and veteran that Patko and Van Ryk were for her. The Thunderbirds had just won a national title but were losing some key players. Jost earned Canada West Libero of the Year award as her team finished second in the Canada West playoffs. Perhaps she could feel the pressure on her shoulders heading into her final nationals?

Going into the finals, she knew there were going to be a lot of emotions. It was natural after all. Jost prides herself on being an emotional player. Over the years, she’s learned to find a consistency with it.

Yes, she can acknowledge those emotions but she can also be a presence conducive to those around her. She gained that composure over time.

Now, she finds happiness in contributing to the team however she can. That can mean running and diving after balls. That can mean looking a teammate in the eye and telling them they’re a baller. Telling them they’re capable in whatever they’re doing.

She did that over and over again as the Thunderbirds won gold in the final game of her career.

Jost and her teammates continued to push themselves in their environment. Think about how competitive those practices are. Think about how much better they get from that. When Jost faces her teammates, she knows she has to adapt and learn and grow.

How would the team respond when staring adversity straight in the face? When they lost the Canada West championship game at home to the Manitoba Bisons?

They worked at it in practice. Their bench players were pushing the starters with intense attacking, heavy defence and great setting in those two weeks between games. That prepared them for nationals.

Second-year setter Issy Robertshaw remembers them focusing on playing like themselves. Not trying to overplay things or do things that aren’t like them.

They kept it simple and trusted what they can do is enough, according to her. They had the self-belief to do so.

The players built that belief through all their practices and games throughout the season. “Confidence comes from past success and knowing that you can do it,” Robertshaw recalls them they saying.

When nationals came, they had the confidence. They just had to play like themselves to win.

When the gold medal game came, Robertshaw felt them digging in during some close points. They reset in the huddle. They didn’t do too much. They knew they were enough.

What did Robertshaw feel as the Grewal’s game-winning ace landed? As they celebrated the title?

She felt the joy and gratitude from this year’s team. She knew how hard they worked. How much grit and determination they have. How light heartened and positive they are as well.

She thinks about how the seniors – like Jost and Cossarini – have been a mental rock for her. With their knowledge and inspiring pregame speeches. With their accountability and leadership. With their humble swag. They’ll pick Robertshaw up when she’s struggling. They’ll inspire her.

There’s one other feeling the setter felt when their championship moment came. Pride.

“I was immensely proud of what our team did out there,” she said. She was proud of how they pushed through. How each of them worked so hard and was so dedicated this season.

“All that hard work has paid off,” Robertshaw noted. “So, it was just an amazing feeling.”

Featured Image: Laurel Jarvis/U SPORTS