Layna

Levorson (#6) going up for a block

 

A former Sundog Club volleyball member is off to the east coast, joining the Memorial University Sea-Hawks women's volleyball program.

Layna Levorson, of Cabri, Saskatchewan will be heading to St. John's, Newfoundland this fall, to further her post-secondary education, as well as her volleyball career, playing at the CIS level.

Despite CIS being a higher level of competition, Levorson says she still just wants to go out and compete.

"One of my goals is to be on the court and stay on the court as much as possible and keep striving along with my goals from last year. I never expected to be near the top of the league with my blocks. I want to continue that out at St. John's and just keep getting better."

Levorson, a 6' foot tall middle, spent her last 3 seasons playing with the Olds College Broncos in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference where she saw continuous improvement each year. After finishing her first 2 seasons at Olds with a combined 100 kills, she managed to more than double that number in her third season alone with 130. Levorson's blocking numbers also saw continuous growth. After tallying 28 total blocks in her first year and 25 in her second, Levorson finished her 3rd season with a total of 66 blocks.

With 3 seasons of experience now under her belt, she feels her time in Olds, under Head Coach Chris Wandler, has only helped her as she prepares for CIS competition.

"Thinking back now, my first year I was nervous and played with caution. I think these 3 years in the ACAC was a really good step for me to become the player I am now, and to help further develop my skills."

"Playing with Coach Walner, he has high expectations for everybody and he wants everybody to be the best they can be, so him putting his belief in me to be better, just drove me and made me think, hey, I can do this," Levorson added.

At the end of the day, whether she is playing in her hometown of Cabri, Saskatchewan, at Olds College, or now Memorial University, for Levorson volleyball is still volleyball.

"It's something that I love. It's something that not everybody wants to drive for, but I know that the technical and mental skills that it takes to play volleyball is something that drives me."

Levorson plans to study in the Faculty of Science upon her arrival at Memorial University this fall, after specializing in land and water resources while at Olds College.