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Hannah May will soon exchange the ocean, beaches and rainy winters of home for the blue skies, cold and snow of the Alberta capital.
The 17-year-old Belmont Bulldogs and Victoria Volleyball Association standout has verbally agreed to a scholarship from the MacEwan Griffins of U Sport鈥檚 sa国际传媒 West conference, beginning in the 2018-19 season.
鈥淚 know, but I鈥檓 actually excited for it,鈥� May said of the change in scenery and climate in Edmonton. 鈥淚 told my mom: 鈥業 want something different, something completely different,鈥� and that鈥檚 definitely something different. I鈥檝e never seen snow in my life, over six inches that is.鈥�
The five-foot-11, right-side player鈥檚 choice follows on the heels of fellow Belmont and VVA star Savannah Purdy, who will be attending Trinity Western University. That means the two will be opponents in two years time after they wrap up their time in high school.
The duo has played together in school and for club for six years. In 2014, they teamed up to win the Western Canadian National Championships gold medal in beach volleyball.
鈥淚t will be awesome,鈥� May said of the future challenge. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always joked about it, that one day we would be playing against each other in the big leagues and now it will be happening. So we鈥檙e both excited about it.鈥�
May, who was named an all-star for the Bulldogs in provincial high school championships in senior this year and junior last year, visited the downtown Edmonton university and also toured Simon Fraser University. Interest also came from eastern schools in the universities of Waterloo, Windsor, Guelph and Western Ontario.
鈥淲hen we went to [club] nationals in Edmonton, I had a chance to go meet the coach and some other players,鈥� May said of MacEwan University, which formerly competed in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference prior to joining sa国际传媒 West.
鈥淚 toured the campus, and the gym, and saw the locker room and it was clear to me that it was different from the other schools I鈥檝e visited. It wasn鈥檛 a tough decision. I knew right away.鈥�
Which is pleasing for May鈥檚 Belmont and VCC coach Mike Toakley. 鈥淗annah has the pedigree to help the Griffins as they make the push to get their program up to speed with the biggest names in Canadian university volleyball,鈥� said Toakley, who looks forward to one more year of having May and Purdy together at the high school and club levels.
鈥淭his means that, while in 2017 they will again be battling together to bring back more provincial championships for their school and club teams, in 2018 they will be staring each other down across the net as members of rival sa国际传媒 West university programs.
鈥淗annah鈥檚 chosen school is a former national college powerhouse that, a few years ago, took the leap into the elite atmosphere of U Sports athletics,鈥� Toakley said of the MacEwan Griffins.
Now, May is looking forward to their last season together before joining coach Ken Briggs鈥檚 team at MacEwan 鈥� snow and all.
