The Clipper Women�s volleyball team made history last weekend as they faced the Medicine Hat Rattlers on home turf. Lindsay Wood led her team to its first back-to-back victory set in more than two years, and in the process, she earned the ACAC�s Subway Athlete of the Week award.

It�s the first time a female Clipper has won the award in almost seven years.

Not a bad rebound from last weekend�s loss to the Lethbridge Kodiaks. The Clipper Women�s volleyball record hasn�t been stellar the last few years, but it would seem that thanks in part to Wood, they�re gearing up for a different sort of season.

�Linsday is definitely a huge part of our success as a team,� says Tabitha Garey, the team�s assistant coach. �Having seen her play throughout the last four years, I cannot tell you how impressed I am with her drive to improve. She has been hitting the ball higher and harder than I have ever seen in the past.�

Wood, who has been playing volleyball for twelve years and is in her fourth year with the Clippers, is one of the team�s assistant captains and the acting floor captain (their current captain is out with an injury). She�s known as one of the best players on the team and for her leadership by example.

Last weekend�s match didn�t begin well, so in between the first and second set, Coach Weinmaster told Wood to step it up.

�I made that switch,� she says. �The girls followed suit, [and] it was the best defense we�ve ever played.�

Coach Nolan Wienmaster was thrilled. �Offensively, she was just really consistent for us,� he says. �The consistency in her play is something the girls respond to really well.�

Wood always wanted to play college volleyball, but she wasn�t sure she could. �I was scared,� she says. �I needed a confidence boost.�

She says that playing with the Clippers helped her get over her fear of failing. The encouraging environment helped �so much,� she says.

So it would seem. Wood has gotten steadily better since she began with the Clippers�so good, in fact, that she was recruited to play at Liberty University in Virginia two years ago. She declined. �God wanted me here,� she says simply.

So what does the rest of the season look like? Well, their record is 2-2, the season has just begun, and Wood thinks there are more great things coming. She says that last year, the team had the skill to win big, but that the �winning mentality and killer instinct� weren�t there. It's there this year.

She seems to be on the same page as Weinmaster, who also thinks this could be just the beginning. �Winning can be a habit,� he says. �There�s no replacement for that kind of experience.�

This year, they want to go all the way to nationals. �We have the skills,� says Wood. �Looking at how far we�ve come, I think it�s possible.�