Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – A comeback attempt in the offing, Team Canada's women's sitting volleyball team rallied to tie their third set of the Last Chance Paralympic qualifier final against Ukraine at 23-23 on Sunday in Halifax.
Then the online feed conked out.
With it came back on, their fervent supporters at MacEwan saw the team celebrating on court, ecstatic after a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-23) victory that punched their ticket to the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
Among those celebrating: MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball associate coach Nicole Ban – who is Team Canada's head coach – and MacEwan University students Heidi Peters and Sarah Melenka, who were both tournament all-stars.
Griffins women's volleyball assistant coach Chelsea Hobbs and former Griffin Kate Rozendaal are also assistant coaches on Team Canada, while they also have the services of MacEwan men's volleyball mental performance consultant Erin Brennan.
"When that final point happened, everyone was relieved and thrilled and really excited to accomplish that on home soil," said Ban whose team went undefeated during the tournament to grab the only spot remaining for the Paralympic field. "There were a lot of fans and people there and it was the perfect moment to finish it up and qualify for Tokyo."
Among those watching: Griffins women's volleyball head coach Ken Briggs, the entire team and several MacEwan support staff.
"I felt a ton of support," said Ban. "The girls actually sent us a little video that I played to the team at the start of the tournament and they followed along. Ken is not a big texter and he was messaging me paragraphs after each game. The girls were reaching out. I feel like everyone was watching. There was tons of support from Edmonton, from MacEwan, from the Griffins athletes … it just seemed like everyone was supporting us and that was awesome."
Melenka described a relationship between Team Canada and the Griffins that's symbiotic.
"I think my first year I joined the sitting team, I had Griffins come out and train with us all the time," said the first-year MacEwan massage therapy student. "They were helping us with blocking and hitting against us, so we have a feel for a bigger opponent, which we see on the international stage.
"The last couple of training camps, our whole team would go to Griffins games and support them there. Then when we were there, we got messages from them, and snapchats and videos of them watching our games. It's a great support system."
Ranked fifth in the world, Team Canada knocked off No. 4 Ukraine in both the round-robin and the final. Overall, they went 6-0 in the tournament.
"We did it on our own merit," said Ban. "It wasn't because someone was hosting, we qualified by beating some really tough competitors."
Team Canada (far side) battles against Ukraine during the Last Chance Qualifier in Halifax on the weekend (Photo courtesy Nicole Ban).
They'll join previously qualified teams from China, Brazil, Russia, Italy, Rwanda , the United States and host Japan at the Aug. 25 to Sept. 6 competition.
"It's truly surreal," said outside hitter Peters, who is in MacEwan's Bachelor of Arts program. "I'm still kind of in shock – it's only been two days. It's honestly a huge honour. I say it's a shock because I'm living on the adrenaline of it, but it's something we've been trying very hard for over the last six months after not qualifying when we went to Lima in August. That was very difficult.
"Everyone shifted their mindset. We trained so hard and we were just like 'we've just got to buy in, train and we just need to win.' We did that."
For Ban, Peters and many others on the squad, they'll be heading to their second Paralympics after finishing seventh in Rio in 2016.
"I think the first time was all excitement – just take in the experience and see how we can perform and it was a lot of firsts," said Ban. "This time we know what to expect and we know Tokyo's going to do a great job hosting. We're there to upset some teams and win some games."
Melenka, who is a setter in the back row and a middle in the front for Team Canada, joined the squad in 2017, so this will be her first Paralympic experience.
"I think it's going to be pretty amazing," she said. "To be able to play the sport that we love even though we have disabilities that affect our day to days, we're still able to go out there and compete at an international level. It's kind of a great feeling."
