Mariners volleyball program has lofty goals for 2026-26 season

Hyde says starting on the road with a weekend series against Columbia Bible College is a good way to gel quickly in a new season..

“What we’re doing right now is just auditions for the big show and I’d rather do that on the road. We’re getting ourselves tight and getting to know each other a little bit more. You’re really able to do that when you’re living out of a hotel room.”

The women’s program is regarded as one of, if not the top, program in the country and Hyde is really impressed with this year’s crop of players.

“The team that we have for this year is one of the most outstanding teams I’ve seen in a while. We’ve got the confidence, we’ve got the skill, we’ve got the depth, we’ve got the height. There’s a lot going for us right now.”

The women’s squad has several new faces but Hyde said some of those players come with considerable experience.

“Last year we had a series of season ending injuries and those players are still out and rehabbing. We’ve addressed that with a lot of first year athletes but we’ve also picked up some transfer athletes. Faisej Brunns was an ACAC all-star as a setter. She’s coming in as a fourth year athlete and has really changed the dynamic of our team. Then we got Kendall Stefan who started her career at VIU, then she transferred to UBCO and has now come back to us in her fifth year.”

On the men’s side Avender has three goals starting with winning the league, capturing a PACWEST title and then getting a national medal.

Despite some roster turnover and seven rookies he is looking forward to seeing what the team can accomplish this season.

“We’re a neat group in the way of our senior guys and the potential we have in them, but then also to see some of these young bloods pushing them, it’s going to be exciting. This is a year that we lost some big guys, but other guys now have stepped into new roles as leaders, and guys are going to get floor time because those senior boys are no longer with us from last year.”

The journey towards provincials and nationals is a long one and Avender knows the group will have to do a lot of learning on the way.

I think it’s implementing our systems, teaching maybe at a level that these kids at the high school age never have really thought about. I would say we’ve been very thorough in the way of really repping out. I’ll always say I don’t want you to jump 10,000 times, but it doesn’t mean we can’t rep out in the way of our brain and understanding where we’re going to be in defence and how we’re going to set our blocks and that kind of stuff.”

On opening night of the season on Friday, Oct. 23 the women swept Columbia Bible College 3-0 while the men also won 3-0 versus CBC.

The Mariners will face Columbia Bible College again on Oct. 24 beginning at 1 p.m. for the women and 3 p.m. for the men.

VIU is on the road again at Capilano to wrap up October before the first home matches of the season on Nov. 6 against the Camuson Chargers.

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by Dan Marshall

Mariners volleyball program has lofty goals for 2026-26 season

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