Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – They will never use it as an excuse or a crutch to lean on, but the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team is young, inexperienced and at the beginning of a long-term plan to return to contender status in the Canada West ranks.
Since finishing fourth and hosting a U SPORTS playoff series for the first time in 2019-20, the pandemic forced a lost season in 2020-21 and the Griffins turned over almost the entire roster.
With 16 players in their first season of university eligibility, the learning will be on the fly as rookies take on key roles right out of the gate.
So, that makes the returning veterans even more crucial as they lead a young group into the trials and tribulations of a tough conference that has produced a national champion in 11 of the last 13 seasons.
Enter Dana Dunbar, who is just one of five players that was on the roster in 2019-20.
In just her third Canada West season, she's been thrust into a key leadership role on the Griffins and will guide the team into their home-opening weekend against cross-town rival Alberta (Friday, 6 p.m. and Saturday, 2 p.m, both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
"She's got to watch people at her position excel," said head coach Ken Briggs of the middle blocker who learned behind graduated stars Haley Gilfillan and Mckenna Stevenson. "She's got to be a part of that and play against them every day. That's what the other ones are missing. They didn't have that opportunity."
As Dunbar endeavours to create her own identity, she will be leaning on some of the lessons learned from Gilfillan and Stevenson, who were elite middles in the Canada West conference.
"I think they showed the breadth of skills you need to be able to bring – just being able to block well and being defensively disciplined, but you also need to be able to put your serve in and make your digs in the back row, which they were also really great at," said Dunbar.
"They were such dependable players because all the way around the court, you knew they were going to do their job, so that's something I took away – just know what my job is and do it to the best of my ability at every spot on the court, to try and bring that dependability for my teammates."
Briggs notes Dunbar has the ability to make a big impact at the position and be a stabilizing force for a young team trying to find its way.
"She's so athletic," he said. "What she's done in her career here is she understands all parts of the game, off court, on court. She understands all of that. And she's a leader. She's learned to say the right things at the right time, question constantly looking for answers; that's what she's done really well."
Growing up in Spruce Grove, Dunbar was a soccer player for many years in her youth before her mom suggested trying out for the junior high volleyball team.
"She convinced me to go the day of the tryouts," she said. "I started in Grade 7 and realized I liked it lot more than soccer and piano and the other things I was doing at the time. I stuck with it and started playing club and kept at it because I always wanted to get better."
That's still her goal and the improvement she's shown since she first walked into the gym as a Griffin in 2018 has been massive.
"I think my mental game has improved a lot," said Dunbar. "First year, I was quite nervous, even at practice. I just wasn't very comfortable. Becoming more comfortable on this team throughout the years has allowed me to play more free. That's allowed me to have the room to grow. So, a lot of improvements both mentally and physically."
These are lessons she can impart to a young roster that is getting better each and every day. Not many expect the Griffins to do much this season (they were ranked 14th of 14 teams in the Canada West preseason coaches' poll), but Dunbar believes their potential is sky-high. When this group finally figures it out, look out.
"It is definitely learning as we grow," she said. "It's exciting, though. Everyone keeps saying how young this team is, but these young girls are the most talented individual volleyball players I've ever played with. It kind of feels like it's coming really soon, that it's going to click and it's going to be fantastic when it does.
"Getting there, I think it just kind of comes down to work ethic and putting forward as much as I can every day to try to make myself and the team better."
And they're carving out their own identity as they go along. That includes respecting the traditions and history of the program but putting their own stamp on it.
"They're developing their own culture," said Briggs, who is the reigning U SPORTS and Canada West women's volleyball coach of the year. "We have traditions and we have alumni, but realistically every team is rebuilding their culture after that long of a break.
"It's a group that has the most depth we've ever had at every position," he added. "It's really brought out leadership qualities in a lot of young people that don't necessarily get that opportunity in a normal situation. It's been fun watching that evolution when the lights go on and they start figuring things out."
