One of Jordan Drezet's longtime volleyball goals was to play in a national championship match.
She can tick that off her list.
Drezet, a 21-year-old setter from Prince George, was in Toronto last weekend for the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association women's volleyball nationals, where her Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves claimed the silver medal. In the final, the Wolves lost to the Red Deer College Queens 25-17, 25-21, 25-19.
Gold would have been great, but Drezet was satisfied with silver, especially because the Wolves beat the top-ranked team in the country to get to the final.
"Growing up in a volleyball family, I've always wanted to be in a national final and I've accomplished that," said Drezet, a 2010 graduate of PGSS. "I only have one year [of eligibility] left so it's great to do it within my five years of school."
The Wolves were ranked fifth out of eight teams at nationals, which were hosted by Seneca College. In their tournament opener, they powered past the fourth-seeded Humber College Hawks of Toronto 25-19, 25-15, 25-16. That win set up a semifinal clash with top-seeded Elans de Garneau of Quebec City, a team that hadn't tasted defeat all season. In a slugfest, the Wolves prevailed 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 25-20.
"We were well-prepared for that match," Drezet said. "They were very good at defence. It felt like we were attacking the ball so much and they would just dig everything up with ease. We kind of had to relax and not get frustrated. That was a big thing for us.
"[Beating them] was very exciting," Drezet added. "It showed that all the hard work we had done throughout the year had paid off. We were able to prove that we are one of the best teams in the country so it was a great feeling to win that match."
Next came the game for gold against Red Deer, which had beaten Grande Prairie in straight sets in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference final a couple weeks earlier. With the national title on the line, Red Deer again emerged victorious.
"We were all ready to have a rematch and were pumped up for it but, in the end, we played as hard as we could and they're just a really good team," Drezet said. "I respect them and I give them props because they made very few errors that match and we just made the wrong errors at the wrong times."
Drezet started every match the Wolves played this season. In the ACAC North Division, she and her teammates posted a 17-3 record. Red Deer, meanwhile, had the same mark in the ACAC South.
Drezet started her post-secondary volleyball career at Simon Fraser University but was there for only one year before she decided to make the switch to GPRC. With her third year at Grande Prairie now complete, she said it was by far her best.
"We were really close as a team and had the same goals," she said.
"We were quite a bit older than the other teams in our league and I think that gave us a better intel on the game -- we were a little bit smarter, a little bit more prepared maybe."
While the Wolves will be doing some rebuilding next season, Drezet is optimistic about what lies ahead for them. In particular, she's excited that Prince George's Sarah Loedel will be back in uniform after a couple years away from the game and the GPRC program.
"I'll be finishing my last year of volleyball with her and I started my first year ever with her when I was in Grade 6 or 7," said Drezet, who is working toward a bachelor of education degree. "It will be really cool to have her by my side."
Loedel is a middle blocker. P.G. product Gabby Rainbacher has also committed to play for the Wolves next season and the team has expressed interest in Danika Kettles. Rainbacher and Kettles are both power hitters.
