By Jadon Frank

Amanda Lundquist plays a role that rarely shows up in the ACAC statistics, but is essential to the success of the Briercrest women’s volleyball team.

As the setter for the Briercrest women’s volleyball team, every offensive play runs through the hands of Lundquist. The ACAC does not record assists, so the casual fan won’t realize how great of an impact she is making on the outcome of each game. In fact, she makes enough of an impact with her digs, serves, blocks and well-placed dumps that some opposing fans have actually been heard asking why their team doesn’t defend better against her during games.

The second year TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages) student sees her biggest strengths in how she relates to people.

 “I think that I’m a really good encourager,” Lundquist said. “I want other people to do well, so I push the other players on the team to do their best and I get really excited when they do something amazing.”

Head coach Nolan Weinmaster has observed how the former national indoor volleyball champion and beach volleyball runner-up has grown and matured these last two years.

“She is a gifted athlete who brings a lot of winning experience to our program and has good consistency in her setting location,” Weinmaster explained. “She works hard at perfecting her craft and makes all of her teammates around her better.”

The native of Surrey, BC moved over the mountains to small-town Saskatchewan because of the unique opportunities that Briercrest offered.

“What brought me to Briercrest was mostly playing on the volleyball team and the reputation of the TESOL degree,” Lundquist said.

Weinmaster is glad that Lundquist made the trek to Saskatchewan.

“It has been great to see Amanda develop into a great setter for us this year and taking on more of a leadership role as a returning veteran!”

The super hero fan, in particular Batman, has noticed some special qualities on her team.

“We’re all really close and all Barbie Dress up Games Web Radio really enjoy each other’s company so it’s really easy to communicate with one another,” Lundquist said.

The setter also does not want to settle for good enough during her time in Caronport.

“My goal as a student is to get the best grades that I can and to really get something out of each of my classes,” the Vancouver Canucks and Fernando Torres fan said. “As an athlete, I want to not settle for my expectations of myself are but to go above and beyond and to reach my full potential.”

Weinmaster sees Lundquist’s contribution going deeper than simply athletic ability.

“Amanda is a great teammate who really cares for her teammates and constantly puts others ahead of herself,” Weinmaster said. “It is a pleasure to be her coach because of her great coachable attitude and her high level of skill -- I look forward to seeing her continue to become one of the best setters in the CCAA in the years ahead!”

Lundquist, who cites bacon as her favourite scent, has really enjoyed some of the unique activities that Briercrest has to offer that go beyond the classroom and athletics.

“I really enjoy the Briercrest Olympics and Youth Quake,” Lundquist said. “It is a lot of fun.”

Though the fan of the TV show Community is only in her second year at Briercrest she can still dream about the future.

“Since I will have my TESOL degree I would like to go overseas and teach English for a few years and to really experience other cultures,” she explained. “Primarily, I would like to go to South Korea or Japan or Thailand.”

“If I could do anything to make the world better I would want to start a non-profit organization similar to Invisible Children,” Lundquist said. “The reality of child soldiers is heart breaking and I think that more should be done to help change that.”