Alums reflect on BU’s first nationals in 2016

One of the smallest U Sports communities in the country, Brandon University has continually shown to be no slouch.

And there may be no better example than the school’s first time hosting a national championship in 2016.

Volleyball was only added at the school as a Canada West program 11 years earlier, but with the depth of local talent and a fervent local fanbase, it was only a matter of time.

Many will remember the 2016 national championship as the finale of that season, but you’d be remiss if you overlooked that the BU women’s volleyball campaign was a wild season. With plenty of local talent representing the region on the national stage, but more twists and turns than a scenic railway to get there.

It started a few years prior when a trio of local high school standouts signed official letters of intent in one of the final events at the old BU gymnasium.

Gillian Leech, Jodie Baker and Mary Thomson were close friends from competing against each other in high school — Leech a Massey grad while Baker and Thomson attended Crocus Plains — but became close friends during the summer while representing Team Manitoba.

“It probably influenced me even more than I realized at the time,” said Baker. “The chance to play with my sister Kellie was huge because it was something we’d never done before, but the three of us made the decision and signed on the same day. Knowing I’d be on the same journey with two of my best friends for the next five years seemed fun, but I probably didn’t understand the impact it would have at the time.”

The next year their new home would open, as the brand-new Healthy Living Centre soon became the hotbed for volleyball it was destined to be, but the three friends had no idea that four years later they would play to the largest crowd the facility has ever seen.

Leech was an exceptional hockey and soccer player who utilized her athleticism to play nearly every position on the court. Baker, at six-foot-two, was a strong middle blocker and superb softball player. Thomson played everything — and extremely well — but considering both parents were exceptional athletes and had a basketball in her hands before she could walk, her athletic career was almost predestined.

The three went to work for the next few years of school, growing together as they continued to grow the volleyball program.

“I’m not sure where I’d be had BU volleyball had not been in my path,” said Leech.

“When you get to go to the gym to work with your best friends every day it doesn’t feel like hard work. Yes we were working very hard, but it never felt like a challenge. It was just a great experience. The opportunity to build really deep connections was because of that small-community feel, which was awesome.”

Fellow Brandon products and close friends Courtney Roberts and Hope Schneider transferred home to BU, Roberts from South Dakota State University and Schneider from the University of Winnipeg, adding to a potent lineup.

Roberts was one of the first in the country to make use of CIS (now U Sports) getting rid of the repatriation rule, meaning she didn’t have to sit out. Previously, Canadian student-athletes who committed south of the border would have to sit out 365 days from the last date of competition.

Roberts did not, rounding out the Brandon connections but also making the Bobcats a formidable Canada West team.

They also had some exceptional talent on the roster, showing they were nationally competitive.

Shanlee McLennan and Donata Huebert were on the team since 2010. Both went on to set and hold program records, Shanlee as a strong-swinging left-side and Huebert as a defensive stalwart.

But the 2015-16 campaign wasn’t all sunshine and roses, especially in the first half of the season.

Thomson tore her ACL on Nov. 6 in a road game against Regina, ending her season.

Despite the talent-laden roster, the Bobcats struggled early. For a team with aspirations of qualifying for nationals by way of a Canada West medal, they entered the December break with just a 3-9 record.

No one could have anticipated the second half of the season, and it started with a random text message to a Bobcat soccer player.

“I remember sitting at home in Shoal Lake and getting a text asking if I wanted to try out for the volleyball team and I thought maybe someone was playing a pranking me,” said Natasha Schierlinck (nee Rupa).

Yet another product of the strong volleyball scene in western Manitoba, Rupa was coming off an all-star season with the Bobcat soccer team as its starting goalkeeper.

She had transferred back to Brandon after a season with the Winnipeg Wesmen volleyball team, but had no real intention of playing Bobcat volleyball.

She was part of a silver-medal winning soccer team and an MCAC all-conference selection, but the pull to play her favourite sport of volleyball was too strong, so she was pencilled into start at setter the first two games in January.

Rupa’s addition was a blessing for the team, but she was cursed.

In her first two games she recorded 73 assists as the Bobcats swept the Saskatchewan Huskies, but it wasn’t all good news.

She broke her wrist.

“We had a good thing going. I just loved being on the court with that group,” said Schierlinck. “The girls all got along really well, so I was so glad to be back but then to have it taken away from me felt really awful.”

One of two from that team that called the small town of Shoal Lake home alongside Breanne Sytnyk, Rupa’s tough luck was unfortunate for her but sparked a remarkable run: The first and only perfect semester of conference play in program history.

The Bobcats managed 12 wins in a row, and against perennial powerhouses like the UBC Thunderbirds, Manitoba Bisons and Winnipeg Wesmen.

The Bobcats finished the season at 15-9, good for fifth in the Canada West standings, in large part thanks to Nikala Majewski.

She sits fifth all-time in Canada West kills with 1,234 but she might be first had she not switched to setter following Rupa’s injury, a tall task for a second-year who had only played as an outside hitter to that point.

As playoffs rolled around, it didn’t get any easier.

The Bobcats had a road series against the fourth-seeded Thunderbirds in Vancouver, a very strong, well-coached team that managed to end BU’s run in the first round.

Many on the team thought it wasn’t a big deal. Considering the injuries, a few more weeks of rest was welcomed.

But no amount of rest could have prepared them for the atmosphere once nationals rolled around.

“It was crazy. I remember the other BU teams being there and being so loud,” said Baker. “The community truly rallied around us. It almost seemed fake. The whole crowd was so crazy, and in the moment we just took it for granted because we always had such a good fan base and great community support.”

“The excitement, and hearing and seeing the crowd and knowing they were there to support us in such a way was cool to be a part of.”

According to the three Brandon products, the momentum was building all along, starting with the team’s miraculous run starting in early January.

“You could feel the anticipation building in the city. We knew how much work went into things behind the scenes and had the community behind us. You could feel it, and it was really exciting,” Leech added.

“We knew we had a tough task in trying to win the title, but we also knew the community had our backs. We just wanted to go out and show that we weren’t backing down from anybody.”

So after a few weeks rest, the team rode the momentum and energy of a rocking Healthy Living Centre into its first national tournament.

Entering as heavy underdogs, the Bobcats drew the No. 1 seeded Trinity Western Spartans in the first round, a team that had spent most of the season ranked among the nation’s best and were the defending national champions.

“We took them to four sets, which had we been in any other gym we might not have done so. I remember how hard the crowd was going and just thinking how difficult it must be to play on the other side,” said Leech.

“To play in front of all of our families, our friends, and the entire community was incredible. I can’t imagine any other nationals like that. The support was unmatched.”

The support from the local crowd was a boost but the Spartans were too much. The building was vibrating from the volume when BU took the third set 25-23, but couldn’t sustain the energy against the eventual silver medallists.

Many games have come and gone for the trio, but many memories of playing together and on the national stage remain.

Fast forward another decade and the Brandon trio are still very close friends.

Leech has taken over the century-old family business of Leech Printing with sister Meredyth here in Brandon. Baker lives in Vancouver where she works as a manager at an Altea Fitness facility. Thomson is a teacher and coach in Winnipeg, where she and husband David Stasica are expecting their first child at the end of May.

Ask any of the three and they never dwell on the fact they dealt with so much adversity that season. They focus on the once-in-a-lifetime experience of competing in such in an environment and are quick to offer advice to this year’s Bobcat team competing on home court.

“No matter who you are or your role on the team, take it in,” said Leech. “You’ll get more support than any other host team at a university national final, so take it all in and be grateful. You likely won’t really notice or appreciate it until another five or 10 years go by and you start to reflect on how much the community really got behind it.”

Encouraged to soak it it in but also know regardless the outcome, the shared experience of competing together is fleeting but the memories last a lifetime.

“It was always bigger than volleyball. It was volleyball that brought us together, but it was the life lessons that sport has to offer,” said Thomson.

“Sure there are highs and lows, but surround yourself with people that can pick you up and support you regardless the challenges and accept you for who you are, that’s what makes it special.

“To have that bond carry through, from starting as kids to getting married and having kids, I think that it goes to show how strong the connections friendship combined with competition can be.”

» [email protected]