Last Saturday, four volleyball team members played their last game for SFU, capping off their time with the Clan properly with a 3-0 sweep.
Brooklyn Gould-Bradbury, Kelsey Robinson, Madeline Hait, and Amanda Renkema all played their final Simon Fraser game against the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks, who only had three wins on the season.
Despite the sweep, it was a close game with SFU winning by only two in each set.
The Nanooks jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first set, but the Clan battled back thanks in part to a five-point streak which included two kills by sophomore Devon May. SFU would win the first by a score of 25-23.
The Clan scored first in the second set, but once again Alaska-Fairbanks would take the lead — this time they would hold it for much of the set. It looked as though the Nanooks would split the series, as they were up 23-21 and only needed two points to seal the deal.
SFU once again responded, however, with Robinson notching two straight kills (in a three-kill streak) to claim the lead, before May made the final, ending the set 27-25, putting SFU up 2-0.
The third set was truly a back and forth effort for both teams. After the Nanooks put the first point on the board, SFU put up four straight points — only to have the Nanooks score four right after.
In the end, the Clan were too much for the Nanooks, winning the third set 25-23, and completing the sweep.
The win further solidified SFU’s season to remember, putting their record at 17-9 total, and 11-7 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). They nearly doubled their previous best in conference wins (six), notched last year. This is their first winning season since joining the NCAA.
For the Clan, one of the most significant challenges during their final game was keeping their emotions in check, however, head coach Gina Schmidt felt the team accomplished this.
“I think they did a good job of staying composed,” she said.
Robinson, who finished the game with 12 kills and 12 digs, was pleased with her final game, saying, “We ended up with a win and that’s probably the best thing you can ask for.”
For Robinson, the realization that this was her last game began to sink in as the game came to a close: “In our very last set — it was very close — so I was like, ‘This could be my last set.’
“I’m definitely going to miss it,” she added.
While the seniors move on, the Clan will have to replace the holes left by losing four starters.
“We’ll definitely look for our returners who didn’t get as much playing time this year to step in because they’ve now had one, two, three years to know what I’m looking for,” said Schmidt. “I think you’ll see some of those players step up and fill in those roles.
“We also have a very good recruiting class coming in and they’ll compete for those roles as well. My job is to put the best six or seven players on the court regardless of the year they are.”
