It was a dominating weekend on Vancouver Island for the Lakeland College Rustlers. The ACAC (Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference) representative only dropped a single set on route to winning the CCAA Women’s Volleyball national title in Nanaimo.
One of the players on the roster for Lakeland is Prince Albert product Seanna Trumier, who is in her second season with the team while completing her studies for a bachelor of education degree.
The St. Mary alum calls the achievement one of the best of her volleyball career.
“I would say it’s right at the top. We won provincials in my first year playing for St. Mary so that was a highlight. I’ve played for Team Sask for four years and this past summer we got fourth at Canada Summer Games. The ACAC silver medal last year and the gold this year, the national championship tops it all off.”
The Rustlers captured the 2023 ACAC crown with a three-set victory over the University of Alberta – Augustana. In the regular season, the Rustlers finished atop the ACAC North division with an 18-1 record. Their only loss came in September at the hands of The King’s University.
Despite the success the Rustlers have had all season long, Trumier says that Lakeland was not putting too much pressure on themselves heading into Nanaimo.
“We went into the tournament not really feeling any pressure. We were ranked number three going into the tournament and we weren’t hosting or anything like that, so we really had no pressure on us. We were just going there to have fun and play. We knew we could win the whole thing all year, but actually doing it just made it feel so unreal.”
It was a major step forward for the Rustler women’s volleyball program who had came within two sets of taking home the ACAC crown in 2022, falling to the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens in four sets in the gold medal game.
Trumier says the experience the team gained in the 2022 ACAC tournament helped pave the way for the national championship win in 2023.
“I think just having the confidence in your own abilities and your sport just really helps, and also being in the final in the ACAC last year. You just go in with so much more confidence and reassurance that you know what you’re doing, You’ve been here before and you can do it again. I think our team really values that we show up every day with the intent to get better as a group and we demand that from each other, and our coaches demand that from us, and I think it really put us a step ahead of everyone else.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, Trumier never got an opportunity to compete at the provincial level for the St. Mary Marauders in Grade 11 or 12. However, she credits the Marauder volleyball program for helping her reach the collegiate level despite the lack of tournaments.
“I didn’t get my last couple of years at St. Mary, but just the training and the touches on the ball, I would say was great. Also, I had good coaches that allowed me to develop as a person and an athlete at the same time, which just translate over into Rustlers volleyball as well.”
sports@paherald.sk.ca
