Rustlers celebrate our seniors

The women's volleyball team has rolled through the regular season in a manner very reminiscent of last year, where the team went 24-1 (74-4 in sets), but will have a unique moment to celebrate their accomplishments before the grind of the playoffs.

Fifth year middle blocker Kaylie Lueck and fourth year setter Jana Laing will play their final home matches this weekend, as the Rustlers wrap up their league campaign. Lueck, who's had one of the longest tenures of any Rustler student athlete, described the past week as a bit of a whirlwind emotionally.

"Sad, excited, all the above," she said. "The past week has been really cool to hear from so many alumni who reached out to note how far they've seen me come. It's crazy how fast seven years have gone by and I'm very thankful for everything."

Hailing from Regina, Leuck will complete her seventh year of education at Lakeland this spring. Recruited as an outside in 2017, she a had a redshirt season before eventually transitioning to the middle position over the next few years, which included a lost year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that season, she was part of the first championship stretch at Lakeland, being part of the 2018 ACAC gold and CCAA bronze and 2019 ACAC bronze winning teams, which she says had a profound impact on her.

"Being so young and watching the starters play, I wanted to be them, be just as good as them," Lueck said. "They obviously left a good example as I was able to do those things as well. It goes to show, when you put in the work, things work out."

Things did indeed work out, as the she is a two-time ACAC All-Conference member, a two-time CCAA Academic All Canadian, a CCAA Tournament All Star and added an ACAC silver, ACAC gold and CCAA gold to her hardware.

Laing had her own red shirt year a year after Lueck joined the program, before becoming the team's starting setter. The third member of her family to join the Rustlers program (older sister Michelle is the program's all time leader in blocks, while brother Ryan was an assistant coach), she said this weekend has just added to an already memorable season.

"There's a lot of emotions going in," Laing said. "This year's been really fun, I'm looking forward to having more games with the girls."

After winning the 2023 title, in which she was the ACAC Championship MVP and a tournament All Star at Nationals, Laing wrestled with the decision to begin life after college or come back for one more year, before ultimately choosing to say goodbye to her time as a Rustler. Then, in a surprise call to coach Austin Dyer near the end of summer, she asked to get back in on their title defence.

The fourth year setter said she's gotten the same question several times this week, on how vindicated she feels in making that choice.

"For sure, 100 percent," Laing said. "This year's by far been one of the most fun seasons I've been a part of and I'm glad I made decision.

That has led to the Portage la Prairie native to move into the record books, along with her membership on the bronze, silver and gold winning teams of 2019, 2022 and 2023 respectively. Heading into the weekend, Laing sits third all time in ACAC assists, second in Lakeland history to another program graduate Rae Sigurdson. She is also fourth all time in digs and service aces at Lakeland, and will pass Sigurdson in aces if she gets two this weekend.

Following the two matches with Olds and SAIT in Lloydminster, the two graduates will have a bye weekend, before they travel to Lethbridge for the ACAC Championship. Despite current emotions, Lueck said that unfinished business of defending their title is helping keep things in perspective.

"I've been getting anxious thinking about [this weekend], but we've got lots of volleyball left," she said.

"This is the last weekend here, but it's not the last one of my career."