'What's next?': Brock women's volleyball team's rapid rise as a national contender

When Brock women's volleyball head coach Steve Delaney took over the job in the summer of 2018 there didn't appear to be much immediate hope for optimism.

The Badgers had been mired in a three-season playoff drought with a combined 13-44 record, and its deepest playoff run was bowing out in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semifinals, which happened most recently in the 1990-91 season.

Despite entering the position with little chance to shape the 2018-19 roster, Delaney felt confident in his team's ability to make an immediate impact.

"In the summer … I just stopped the practice, sat everyone down, and said, 'I don't know what has been happening here, but this is not a last place team. I can just tell you by the talent we have in the gym,'" said Delaney. "And I kind of opened some eyes by saying that.

"In one of our first meetings, I said, 'We're making the playoffs this year. I don't care if we were last [last year]."

While Delaney was able to motivate his group, he also keyed in on a number of tactical changes to set his team up for success.

He also wanted to give athletes more leeway in attacking so he could see what shots they were capable of hitting — as well as the athletes themselves learning what they were capable of — then dialled that back at the end of the year once he identified which athletes were capable of hitting certain shots.

The results in Delaney's first year were a 13-6 record — mirroring the 2017-18 record of 6-13 — and a quarterfinal playoff exit against eventual provincial champion University of Toronto.

Despite the initial success, the believability in the Brock program may not necessarily have been widespread entering Delaney's first year of recruiting.

One recruit that had no problem