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Rookie sparks volleyball squad
Although Leah Saar is among the top young volleyball players in Canada, she still had butterflies before she stepped onto the court for her first game with Ryerson.
“It was my first university game ever and I just wanted to do well,” says the first-year social work student. “And I felt really, really nervous.”
Her nerves must be working to her advantage.
“Of the matches we’ve played, Leah has led our team and the other team,” said former women’s volleyball coach Bob Cholette in an interview before he lost his job.
“She’s been the top point-getter in three of the matches,” said Cholette.
“Even when we’re losing, she’s outscoring the people on the winning team.”
A new addition to the women’s volleyball team, Saar is a two-time member of Canada’s Youth National squad and Ontario’s 18U Provincial team. She also represented Canada at the U.S. High Performance Challenge in Austin, Texas and was named the MVP of the Canadian Eastern Nationals in 2006. To add to the list, she is a three-time Ontario Volleyball Association Award of Excellence recipient.
“If Leah continues to progress as I suspect, she’ll probably be one of the better players in the OUA (Ontario University Athletics),” Cholette said.
Team captain Michelle Cook says that Saar is a fabulous addition to the team, which is currently made up of six new players and seven returning players.
“We’re hoping with all the new energy and first-year passion we’ll be able to turn this team around. And Leah’s sort of leading the first-years to do that because she has a lot of experience playing outside Ryerson,” Cook said.
The team currently has a record of two wins and seven losses. It picked up its first win with new coach Dustin Reid last weekend. Saar led the team with 17 kills and 18 points in the match. Reid said it felt good to start with a lead and keep it throughout the match, something the team has struggled to do this season.
“From the beginning, we were in the lead,” he said. “We were patient and we scored the big points when we needed to.”
The school recently hired Reid as the team’s full-time coach to replace Cholette, who coached part time for the past three seasons. Reid knows Leah from the provincial system; she’s been part of the athlete development program since 2005.
“I’ve seen Leah play for a number of years,” said Reid. “She’s played well in the matches since I’ve been with the team.”
According to Saar, the transition to a new coach has been a smooth one and practices are going well.
“They’re going great,” Saar says. “They are pretty intense now and a lot of fun. “Everyone is just trying harder at drills and we’re doing a wider variety of drills. Dustin expects a lot out of us so we give him our best all the time.”
Reid said that Saar’s early success this season has increased the pressure to perform well.
“Whenever you have good results or good statistics, there’s always going to be expectations,” he said. But Saar is aware of the expectations put on her.
“I just try not to let it get to me. I just try to play my game and not really worry about anything else.”
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