Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – All three of MacEwan's men's volleyball graduating seniors are on unique journeys as they prepare for the next chapter of their lives.
Mitchel Gorman is pursuing a music performance career, Daniel Hebert wants to become a doctor and Alexander Lyndon is aiming to get into machine learning, programming Artificial Intelligence.
There is one thing that sums up their contributions to the Griffins, though.
"I think it's hard to sum up what they've meant to the program and myself, but the overarching theme is leadership," said MacEwan head coach Brad Poplawski.
"They're all leaders in different ways, but they've all given more to the program than they've taken from it, which is why they'll be so missed."
All three will be feted following the final game of their careers on Saturday as MacEwan hosts UBC Okanagan on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (3 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
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Enjoy a Q&A with all three graduating seniors below.
MITCH GORMAN
Brad Poplawski's coach's quote:
"My only thing I'm sad with is I didn't get him out of high school. I watched him play club and I loved the way he played. When I heard he was going to Mount Royal, I told Shawn (Sky), that's a great pickup. Seeing him in the halls (at MacEwan) after the pandemic, I was like, 'hey!' So, the fact he got the itch and called me. I said, 'this is our depth chart.' This was September and he said 'yeah, I'll be starting for you by October.' I was like 'oh, I like that.' He wasn't wrong. He was. That was cool. I like the guys who have confidence.
"I think just his unique background of on-court excellence and then going that night and performing a concert – are you kidding me? He's one of the most talented people I've ever been around. I've been able to listen to some of his stuff. It's incredible how talented he is. I'm really excited to follow his career in music past MacEwan. I was really happy I got the chance to coach. He's just an awesome individual, extremely talented and filled a really important role for our program."
Mitch Gorman enters the weekend leading the Griffins in kills with 185 (Robert Antoniuk photo).
Q&A with Mitch Gorman:
Graduating with …
Bachelor of Music in winter of next year, but I will not be playing next year because I only have a few courses left to finish up.
Do you have a career goal in mind?
The goal is to be fully embraced in music and be performing and writing as much as I can. And I'm probably going to teach here and there.
That's been a really unique journey for a student-athlete to also be an artist. What has that been like for you?
It's definitely been a weird balancing act. Going back and forth from practice and singing is definitely a different journey and different level of stress. Having performances on the same day as practices can definitely be fatiguing in a different sort of way. You are forced to almost use your body in different ways. It can definitely be tiring. It's a pretty interesting balancing act, I'd say.
What instrument do you play predominantly and are you in a band or do you play by yourself?
I sing and play guitar. Most of the stuff I've done outside of MacEwan has mostly been on my own, but I'm hoping to get more of a band behind me with future gigs.
Do you have any recordings so far?
I have nothing out on Spotify or anything like that, but just this semester I've been working on a few originals in MacEwan studios. Hopefully we'll be releasing stuff soon.
Do you have any plans to keep playing volleyball?
Yeah, I'm sure I will. I love beach volleyball, so I'll definitely be playing that in the summers. As for indoor, maybe I'll play men's league here and there, but I'll probably put more of my focus on beach volleyball in the summers.
When you look back on your time with the Griffins, what are some of your favourite memories?
Just going on trips with the guys is always a fun time. Our first win last year on NAVC night against UFV was pretty exciting. Just establishing the role as a left side again was super fun.
You transferred here from Mount Royal. How has your journey played out?
I played two years as a libero at MRU out of high school. I took a couple years off with COVID and wanting to change up my degree. I wasn't sure I wanted to play volleyball (during the pandemic), so I took a couple years off and then came to MacEwan and pursued music. Then I decided I wanted to play again, so I reached out to Pops and walked onto the team.
How do you take stock in the fact that you used to play libero and you walked onto the team and are leading the Griffins in kills? That's amazing.
I actually never played libero until I went to MRU, believe it or not. I was a setter turned left side, turned libero. So, growing up I played mostly left side, even though I'm on the shorter side of things for this sort of league. It was definitely exciting to be able to come back onto MacEwan with the role of left side because it's just such a different perspective on the game – being able to control different things. It was fun.
When you look back on your time with the Griffins, what would you say your legacy is? What will you be remembered for?
All the guys called me Music Man, so maybe that will be the legacy. Maybe the short left side.
Do they actually come and watch you perform?
A few of them came to my junior recital last year. I haven't had too many opportunities to play in Edmonton outside of school, but some of them have definitely come and watched.
Do you have anything else you'd like to say about your time with the Griffins?
I definitely appreciated being a Griffin and it will be something I'll never forget.
DANIEL HEBERT
Brad Poplawski's coach's quote:
"You look at Dan's play, especially this year and last year, he's a great receiver. His defence is so good. He's a libero through and through, and he really knows that position. But his legacy and contribution to the program was infinitely more off court, which is impressive because of how good he was on court. But he's the example of leadership we will use going forward. He's that type of guy. He jokes that he's the Team Dad. But this is why he's going to be a great doctor is he does have a lot of empathy and reads people really well. If someone's having a bad day, he's going to go up and talk to them, whether it's a coach or a player. If I say I need some volunteers, he's always the first one (to raise his hand). He's always putting the program first. I just think as much as he brought on court, which is a tremendous amount, he'll be missed for his stuff off the court even more."
Daniel Hebert enters the weekend leading the Griffins in digs with 111 (Robert Antoniuk photo).
Q&A with Daniel Hebert:
Graduating with …
Biological Sciences this spring with a minor in Psych
Do you have a career goal in mind?
I'm trying to get into Med School right now – hopefully UBC or U of A. I'm doing all of my applications right now.
Do you have a specific area of medicine in mind or are you keeping your options open?
Keeping most options open, but I'm kind of pulled to Sports Medicine.
Obviously, to become a doctor you have to have tremendous marks. You've had that all the way through. What's that academic success meant to you?
I think I've always just valued my marks. My mom's a teacher, so she's definitely pushed me in that aspect. I've been able to get Academic All Canadian four times now and Griffins' Top Academic (award for the Faculty of Arts & Science in 2020-21). It's been good.
Do you plan to keep playing volleyball?
I'm done. Five years is a long time for any sport. You get tired of it. As much as I've enjoyed MacEwan and playing volleyball with the boys, I'm definitely ready to move on and get into my professional life now.
When you look back on your time with the Griffins, what are some of your favourite memories?
Definitely the boys. Pretty much all the road trips and pre-game meals with everyone, laughing with them, all the late nights and stuff like that.
Libero is an underrated position and doesn't get a lot of the glory. How do you look back on playing that position and how you mastered the challenges of facing some big serves?
Kind of being not super looked at for big plays, you just take what you can get. I think something I've gotten better at is not just worrying about myself on the court but trying to get the best out of everybody else. So, sometimes if I'm not getting served in a match, I'm trying to get the best out of one of our left sides and try to do the most for the team that way.
What do you think your legacy is with the team? What will you be most remembered for?
I think (being) Team Dad. Kind of being the positive person around, keeping people upbeat and making random jokes out of nowhere just to keep people smiling or anything along those lines.
Do you have anything else you'd like to say about your time with the Griffins?
Honestly, if I could go back, I'd definitely pick MacEwan again. I think it was a good fit for me in the schooling and volleyball. I really enjoyed my time. It sucks it's over, but I'm pretty appreciative of it.
ALEX LYNDON
Brad Poplawski's coach's quote:
"I saw him at SAIT and was really impressed. Lucky enough, he came here. I just think his volleyball IQ, knowledge and passion for the game really shone through. If he ever wants to get into coaching, I think he'd be a brilliant coach. The conversations we've been able to have have been really high level when we're doing our setters' video. He's talking about pursuing a Master's in Australia and staying involved with volleyball whether it's a mentorship to help athletes on their journey to Canada or whether it's getting involved with coaching. He was an Academic All Canadian all four years, a 4.0 student. He just checks all those boxes. I think he performed at a really high level for us in his time here, really evolved as a setter and as a person. I think he can do some pretty cool things. His program is very tough and how smart he is, so coaching is maybe not challenging enough for him, but if he does want to stay in volleyball, he has a great mind for it. That's really shone through getting to work with him the last three or four years in the program."
Alexander Lyndon enters the weekend leading the Griffins in assists (398) and aces (15) (Robert Antoniuk photo).
Q&A with Alexander Lyndon:
Graduating with …
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in April.
Do you have a career goal in mind?
Not exactly sure. I think I want to work in machine learning of some sort. I probably have to get a master's degree. I might do that back in Australia. It's a lot of math and statistics and programming. I'm doing some of that now and it's interesting, so I think that's what I want to do.
Do you have plans to keep playing volleyball?
Yes. There's a weekly local league in Sydney, where I'm from and then there's a semi-professional volleyball league I want to play in. Who knows after that? I'll play a lot of beach, too, when I'm back there.
Not a lot of people get a chance to go to school outside of their home country. What's that experience been like?
It's really cool. It's fun to see another part of the world with totally different weather and a different culture. It's been a cool experience. It's been a fun six years.
You were at SAIT first before you came here. How do you look back on the whole university journey that you took?
It's definitely not what I thought would happen. Moving cities and having that year of COVID, being trapped inside, was not how I saw things going. But looking back, it's been great. I have no complaints how it all turned out.
When you look back on your time with the Griffins, what are some of your favourite memories?
I think just that first year after the pandemic. Having been inside and starved of that social experience, being able to come onto campus and have the team and being with the guys, travelling a bit, that was really fun. Those first two years after and just getting into the league and playing some of the really good teams was exciting.
The last couple of seasons you've been right up there in aces and assists. How have you seen yourself evolve into a leader on this team and into one of the better players in Canada West?
I think I've always seen that potential and it was just a matter of getting a chance to prove it. To be honest, it's the culmination of years of good habits. My first year at SAIT, I didn't really play a lot and my second year I was a redshirt. But during that time, I made sure I was doing the right stuff and taking the opportunities that I did get. Now, it's nice because I'm getting the reward out of that. I hope I've set a good example for some of the younger guys. Five years is a lot of time to play and if you spend the first two or three doing the right stuff, then in the fourth and fifth years, you can be capable of a lot.
What do you think your legacy is with the program? How will you be remembered?
I hope they remember me as someone who works hard and wants what's best for the team. I hope that I've left the program and the team in a better place. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who remember the accent and making fun of me for it.
You'll have to get some of the boys to come to Australia.
Exactly. Then they'll be a fish out of water.
Do you have anything else you'd like to say about your time with the Griffins?
I think that more or less covers it. It's been good. It's been a fun ride.
