Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Passing is so imperative to success in the Canada West volleyball ranks.

Aiming for players with elite first contact skills, Griffins women's volleyball head coach Chris Wandler signed Grande Prairie's Tess Weber, the third addition announced in his 2023 recruiting class.

The 5-foot-8 outside hitter figures to fashion a role with the Griffins that takes advantage of her first-rate passing skills.

"She's primarily recruited for her first contact skills, her defending skills and her ability to be tenacious on the ball," said Wandler. "That's the same with Ella (Black, a previously-announced Griffins recruit), as well. Tess is an outside hitter and just a glue type of player. Both of them are extremely great athletes and are just willing to compete. Bringing that into our training environment is just going to propel us even more."

Weber has enjoyed plenty of success over the past year: last spring, she was named Most Improved for her Dawson Creek Volleyball Club U18 squad. Then, she led her Pope John Paul II high school team to a provincial 3A championship last fall.

And the hardware continued at the 2023 Arctic Winter Games in Wood Buffalo where Weber helped Team Alberta North claim the gold medal.

She also played for the South Peace Volleyball Club this past season.

Where Wandler plans to play her with the Griffins remains to be seen, but there's no doubt she'll be an important part of the roster.

"I'm a big believer in roles and finding places where you can utilize strengths to the best of their abilities," said the coach. "With first contact being something we need to improve on going into 2023-24, Tess can help us with that so we can set up our offence.

"She's a great teammate and a phenomenal person," he added. "She's going into the faculty of design and has high academic potential there. She's super excited about coming into Edmonton."