Senior Night sweep for No. 3 Brock women’s volleyball

Once a Badger, always a Badger.

That’s the motto student-athletes carry beyond their time at Brock University.

In Bob Davis Gymnasium on Saturday, Feb. 26, Brock Badger spirit was on full display when the No. 3 Brock women’s volleyball team honoured its senior players before their 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-20) win over Lakehead.

The Badgers honoured its 2022 class of Alanna Norris, Grace Pyatt, Tyler Garrick, Jaimie Holland, Natalie Little and Samantha Casey, including assistant coach Emily Armstrong who graduated in 2021.

“This is a special group. One I will remember for a long time. This group is made up of individuals who were on the team when I first arrived at Brock,” said head coach Steve Delaney. “They’re all going to be a success in whatever they do. Their athletic ability is a special part of who they are, but they’re even better people.”

This graduating group includes Delaney’s first recruit from 2019, Samantha Casey.

“My experience playing at Brock has been unforgettable. I am so fortunate to have been coached by Steve Delaney and developed as an athlete and as a person,” said Casey, a Sport Management student. “The group of women I play alongside are extremely talented, and I am so fortunate to have built such strong relationships with each one.”

The senior class also consists of two players tracing back to the 2015-16 season.

Norris and Armstrong have lived through the evolution of the women’s volleyball program and the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic has had on student-athletes careers.

Both have played for two different head coaches and were members of the Brock team that captured an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) silver medal in 2019-20. The same squad whose first trip to the U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championships was dashed due to the pandemic.

Entering this season, Norris couldn’t pass up the opportunity to complete her last year of eligibility, and Armstrong jumped at the chance to help coach.

“This is one of the reasons I came back because I left feeling incomplete,” Norris said. “Once this season was confirmed, I knew I had to come back and not have any regrets down the line. It’s amazing to look back and see what this program has transformed into.”

Armstrong didn’t have the option to be on the court, but she still wanted to contribute to a program trending upwards.

“I still wanted to leave something special behind, and I found that with coaching,” Armstrong. “Throughout the years, we’ve seen this team’s evolution in confidence in ourselves and earning respect throughout the league.”

The seniors left their mark on a night belonging to them. Garrick registered a career-high 12 kills to lead the Brock attack. She hit for .321 and tallied two service aces and a pair of digs.

Pyatt secured eight kills while Norris added six digs. Little added a kill to increase her hitting percentage to .500 on the season.

Lauren Teehan dished out 29 assists. Aleiah Torres posted 15 digs, while Lakehead’s Rebekah Harra led all players with 19 digs.

Brock also honoured the team’s graduating Brock Sports Medicine therapists, Jenavieve Agro and Adrian Butrimas.

Next, the Badgers (12-0) host the Waterloo Warriors in their regular-season finale on Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets can be pre-purchased on University Tickets.