Hamilton, ON- On the wall of the Manitoba Bisons women’s volleyball team’s locker room is their team philosophy.

Fourth-year setter Katreena Bentley and her teammates see it every day they’re in there. They talk about it a lot. They’ve done so since the start of the season.

Their philosophy consists of six testaments. Ones they live by every day. “A state secret,” Bentley calls it.

She lets out a hint though. A glimpse into that secret perhaps. The first one is “Be an Every Dayer.”

Bentley knows how difficult being a student-athlete can be. When she thinks of being an every dayer, she thinks of showing up and giving whatever she has to give on that day. Even if she has only 70 per cent energy, she will give 100 per cent of that 70 per cent. She’ll do so for her teammates.

She feels like she owes it to them. To herself as well. To strive to get better every day.

Bentley and her teammates turned to that testament and their philosophy following the national semi-final defeat to the Alberta Pandas. They did so as they captured bronze against the Acadia Axewomen.

Let’s flash back from that nationals in Hamilton. Let’s go back to before the season even began. There was Bentley and her teammates running up and down the hill outside in the heat. No, sprinting up and down the hill.

They pushed themselves up and down that hill all offseason. They pushed themselves during the season, doing so even on long weekends. Doing so all the way until even February in the coldness of the Manitoba winter.

They’re grinders so that’s what they had to do, according to Eve Catojo. Here’s the thing: everyone was doing so. Everyone was all in.

As they did those hill sprints, Catojo could feel herself getting stronger and faster and fitter week after week. Catojo felt their fitness being a huge part of their success this season.

Catojo felt the responsibility. Even on days when it’s tough to push through or work out, she’ll think of that. She felt it would be such a disservice to herself and her teammates if she didn’t.

The third-year middle could feel the pain setting in at times throughout the season. She’s had a sore shoulder during the season. She played with a migraine during their Canada West championship victory over the UBC Thunderbirds.

I’ve got to play, she thought. Catojo had put in so much work. She wanted to reap those benefits.

She didn’t care how sore her shoulder was. She didn’t care how much her migraine hurt. Even as she stood in UBC’s War Memorial Gym – the loudest gym she’s ever been in.

“This is the place you want to be when you have a migraine,” she told teammate Light Uchechukwu amid all the noise.

What propelled her to push through? She felt a deep conviction to not want to let down herself and others. Those who supported her. Those teammates who pushed through their own adversity. It was personal for her to do so.

Catojo pushed through. It paid off. She and her teammates ended the evening celebrating their first Canada West title.

You want to talk about pain? Imagine how painful it was for her and her teammates after losing to Alberta. After holding a lead late in the fifth set only to see it slip away.

Catojo could feel how heartbreaking it was. How hard they battled. She wasn’t disappointed though with how her and her teammates played. With how hard they played.

Libero Julia Arnold also felt how much the Alberta loss hurt. They trained all year with their sights set on winning nationals. Now that was gone. “A low blow to us,” she called it.

The fourth-year knew how difficult of a game it was to play through. She felt how tough it felt to lose right afterwards. By the time Arnold and her teammates got back to their hotel, they had a team meeting.

Head coach Ken Bentley told them how proud he was of them. The players then decided this wasn’t how they wanted to finish their season. They decided to flush the loss out of their minds when they went to bed. They vowed to get after it again the next day.

That didn’t mean it was easy though. Far from it. Arnold felt how difficult it was for her. However, she leaned on her previous experience. Like Catojo, she’s also shown up every day and given her all. It been challenging but it’s been the joy of her life.

Be an every dayer. Arnold thought about how they grinded throughout the season. How that’s part of their culture. Everyone’s giving their all, even if they don’t feel the best. How they did so in the bronze medal game as they beat Acadia in straight sets.

Arnold loves the grind. She feels all that gratitude to play university volleyball. She keeps that in mind every day so she can enjoy every moment.

After the Alberta game, she felt she owed it to herself and her teammates to flush the game out and focus on the bronze medal match.

Less than a day later, she and her teammates still weren’t thrilled to be playing in this match but they stayed steady throughout it. They found a way to stay in the game. “I was really impressed with how we did today,” she noted.

Arnold saw them show their character as they celebrated their bronze medal.  

As the Bisons left the court one last time in Hamilton, it marked the last time Uchechukwu and Bentley would do so together.

Like her teammates, Bentley felt it would be a disservice to not show up and play against Acadia. “Let’s leave it all out there,” they told themselves. She did so in her final match with Uchechukwu.

After their quarter-final game against Saint Mary’s, Bentley got emotional when thinking about her long-time teammate. The fact their volleyball journey would be coming to an end so soon. The two of them have spent so many years as part of the Junior Bisons program before making their way to the university level.

The program has always been a home for Uchechukwu. One she’s been a part of since she was 12 years old when she and her family arrived in Winnipeg, six years after immigrating from Lagos, Nigeria. She was looking for a way to join the community and she found Bisons volleyball. That’s how the journey started.

Now, years later, she teared up thinking about the end. “I’m excited for what life has to bring but it’s going to be tough to leave a second home,” she said. She did so with two of her best friends. She hugged Bentley and Arnold after the game.

She sat beside Bentley in the press conference afterwards. She loves her so much. She respects her so much – how Bentley has so much pressure on her but takes it like a champion.

Bentley saw how much Uchechukwu cares for her teammates. She’s always making sure they’re doing okay. She’s always supporting them the best way she can.

She’s seen her get better and better each year – including this one. She’s seen her grow into a tremendous leader – doing so with such grace. She’s proud to see the volleyball player and person she’s become.

As they walked off the court together one last time, they did so with bronze medals around their necks. They did so knowing they left everything they had out there.

Featured Image: Laurel Jarvis/U SPORTS