The women’s volleyball team welcomes two new players to their Husky pack
New player Heather Lochhead (#18) may be a new player, but her game on the court is fierce
Photo: Brittany Barber/The Dialog
The women’s volleyball team resumed their season after the Christmas hiatus with two new players on the court.
Joining the team is Heather Lochhead, 21, a setter and first-year student in the sports and event marketing program, and Ginesha Graham-Armstrong, 20, a middle-hitter with the goal of becoming a dietician in the future.
Bringing her enthusiasm and experience to the court for the Jan. 11 game against the Canadore Panthers, Lochhead helped carry the team through the ups and downs with her pump-up attitude and by keeping a watchful eye on mistakes.
“If it gets me going and the rest of the team going, then I think it’s a positive thing,” said Lochhead. “I love volleyball, I love winning and I’m very competitive.”
There is no bigger motivator for Lochhead than knowing that she is exactly where she wants to be. Having already completed her undergraduate degree at Western University in kinesiology, she also took courses on volleyball and volleyball coaching. Lochhead intends on powering through her one-year program in sports and event marketing to focus on the “business side of things” and playing on the varsity volleyball is the icing on the cake.
“When I didn’t make the volleyball team (at Western), I was pretty upset,” said Lochhead. “Now I just feel like everything is set in place. I’m playing volleyball and I’m doing a program that I’m interested in.”
Genisha Graham-Armstrong joined the Husky volleyball team in hopes of working on making herself a better player and student overall.
“I’m big on fitness and staying healthy and active, and volleyball is helping me out with those goals,” said Graham-Armstrong.
This first-year culinary management and nutrition student is using her knowledge on and off the court saying, “I’m gaining knowledge from my actual program in terms of what I can do to be healthier and more active, what’s good for me to eat and then volleyball. I’m learning all these things that help me out in the real world with trying to be better and being more aware.”
With high school and club experience, Graham-Armstrong is hoping to see the Huskies reach playoffs this season to heighten her overall experiences. She intended on waiting one year to join the volleyball team, but when the opportunity arose for tryouts over the break, she couldn’t pass up the offer.
“I like winning,” said Graham-Armstrong. “Being a part of a team, having that environment and so many people driven to do the same thing, that’s what keeps me motivated.”
Joining halfway through the volleyball season might have been troublesome and challenging, but not for this duo who participated in the Durham College Tournament on Jan. 2, working on team bonding and getting a firm grasp on the way head coach Dana Cooke runs her court.
“Bringing on new players gives a real fresh set of eyes and kind of reinvigorates our team and re-establishes our goals,” said Cooke. “It changes a little bit of the starting mix that we have and I think all for the better. We got lucky to have new players.”
