After years of playing volleyball locally in Fernie, Lilaina Nelson is spreading her wings and moving to the U.S to pursue sports at a higher level.
The grade 12 Fernie Secondary School student has been recruited to play volleyball at St. Andrews University in North Carolina, starting fall of 2025. She'll join the St. Andrews Knights as a middle blocker, playing in the NAIA division, which is equivalent to division two.
Nelson said she's looking forward to getting to know all the ladies on her team, and travelling with them to games in Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina.
"I watched a couple of their games and their team bonding is really good. They're good friends with each other," she said.
Nelson has been playing volleyball since middle school, joining initially because she liked the independent nature of the sport and its dual focus on individual performance and collaborative play. She currently plays on the Fernie Sr. Girls B team.
When her brother Charlie was recruited for volleyball at St. Andrews a few years prior, it helped her realize that playing at a higher level was something she wanted to work towards.
"Once my brother got signed, it really inspired me to work hard and be determined and get recruited," she said.
She ended up capturing the attention of the women's head coach at St. Andrews while she was visiting her brother there. She was tossing around a volleyball with him, and the coach approached her and offered her a position on the team.
Nelson will begin training next summer and she's anticipating she'll have to work hard to keep her edge in the world of competitive post-secondary sports.
"University volleyball is a way different level, different from high school, a higher pace level, a more fast-paced game. It'll probably be a little bit more serious," she said.
