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Red Deer’s Kyra Rawlusyk wins silver at Beach Volleyball Nationals

For Kyra Rawlusyk, success on the beach court came somewhat unexpectedly.
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Red Deer’s Kyra Rawlusyk (right) along with partner Julianna Jordan (left) won silver at the Under 16 Girls Volleyball Canada Nationals last weekend. It was the first national tournament for the Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School student. (Contributed Photo)

For Kyra Rawlusyk, success on the beach court came somewhat unexpectedly.

While she had competed at some Volleyball Alberta mini-tournaments the last few years, she never expected it to end up where it did this summer.

The 16-year-old from Red Deer along with her partner Juliana Jordan out of Calgary earned a silver medal at the Under 16 Volleyball Canada 2019 Beach Nationals in Toronto last weekend.

That in and of itself was the special accomplishment for the duo, but factor in that they hadn’t met prior to a provincial camp earlier this summer makes it even more unique.

They were paired up after a 20-player tryout in Calgary had a somewhat tough road on the way to a second-place finish at provincials earlier on this month.

“It was tough during training because we didn’t know each other, it was a bit awkward at first. Just figuring out how we play and what worked for each player. I think once provincials came, that’s when we really clicked and played our best,” said Rawluysk.

“When we first started I was a bit nervous about how we would do at provincials because it took us a while to play well together. Playing against the other team Alberta teams, we weren’t always doing so great. Once we got through the week, we were both playing so amazing. I wasn’t surprised, it was nice because so many teams were so amazing and we did better than I expected.”

To start nationals, there were perhaps a few nerves for the tandem and they struggled on day 1 before being relegated to Tier II. They bounced back with a vengeance, winning six straight matches and only dropped one set on the way to the final.

“It was a rough start, we ended up losing all our games but we still played very well. The second day, we were in a different pool and we placed first and from that point on we kept winning and playing better and better,” Rawlusyk recalled.

In the gold medal match against a team from Ontario, they dropped a tight-three set match but still managed to bring home a hard-earned silver.

“I think playing the Ontario girls who play year-round and always competing at a high level, I took away how much practice helps and hard work– always playing at your best no matter the weather or the conditions,” she said.

After her third summer on competing in beach volleyball, Rawlusyk is now looking forward to the indoor season. In club volleyball, she is an outside hitter for the Central Alberta Queens U17 team.

At the high school level, she will be in grade 11 next year at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School. She was the only grade 10 player on the Raiders team that won its second straight Alberta Schools Athletic Association title last winter.

She expects the team to be strong again in 2019 and thinks her time on the beach court this summer will help.

“I can move faster on the indoor court, I’m jumping higher. It’s a lot easier to jump,” she said with a chuckle.



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Byron Hackett

About the Author: Byron Hackett

Byron has been the sports reporter at the advocate since December of 2016. He likes to spend his time in cold hockey arenas accompanied by luke warm, watered down coffee.
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