Recruitment key for Kodiaks

By Lethbridge Herald on October 15, 2025.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks women’s volleyball team look to put a rough  2024-2025 season behind them, where they ended with a record of 4-15, and a big part of that record was because of a lack of bodies, which is something the team felt they addressed going into this season through recruitment.

“We knew going into this season just for longevity and health that we needed to just recruit more athletes and the best quality athletes that we could,” said Anna Schwark, Kodiak women’s volleyball head coach.

“So, we’re back to 18 … total athletes and the gym’s been super fun. Practices have been so much more competitive, a lot of six-on-six game play, and we’re just able to add some more pressure in practice, which I think will really, really   serve us going into this season because we want to be more competitive.”

The reason for more recruiting this season was because the team learned to play with a smaller roster size and seeing players drop out throughout last season.

“Life can be tough for post-secondary athletes,” said Schwark.

“So, we had a few drop off a long the way which is really too bad … It was tough dealing with a little bit of that heartbreak of losing teammates as we  went along. It really does throw a wrench into just the culture.”

Practices were often run with just over players who were banged up,  tired and were in the middle of writing exams.

“It was pretty tough in practices trying to just  keep the perspective of the bigger picture of we’re doing the best we can with a small number,” said Schwark.

Injuries also contributed to smaller numbers last season.

Schwark is pleased with the recruitment class for this season.

 “Three of those new additions are transfers though, so they have at least one red shirt year more of experience in USports or ACAC,” said Schwark.

“Just having a little bit of maturity and some experience of how things generally run does help us and the function of the team.”

Something the Kodiaks have not had in awhile is a bigger team physically  and the hope is they can use that as  a strength this season.

“(The players) work really hard in the fitness  centre with their heavy lifting and their progressions there,” said Schwark.

“We’re jumping super high which is really fun. The scope of our play is a lot bigger than it has been the last couple of years.”

The girls are looking to become faster on the offensive side of the ball.

“We really want to hold setters and middles to a high standard,” said Schwark.

“They’re doing a really good job of just staying fast and if that means  that we’re making some errors in practices right now, that’s OK.”

The Kodiak women’s volleyball team host the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. to open a new ACAC season.