A special kind of heartbreak: Moving on from the gold-winning Rustlers
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That’s the motto that got them through their final season as Rustlers, taking them all the way to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championships and home again, bringing with them the team’s third-consecutive national gold. And it’s what’s keeping them going now as their time at Lakeland and as Rustlers comes to a close.
“For a whole year, we’ve just been focused on being in the time that we’re in,” says Letkeman. “And now that time is getting shorter. It’s hard to hold on to.”
Varga agrees, saying, “We were living day-by-day and the days are becoming less and less. I’m just trying to spend as much time now with everybody as I can because I’m not going to get to see all these girls every single day for eight months straight anymore.”
“It feels like a really weird heartbreak,” says Matthews. “You’re breaking up with your boyfriend and you’ve known this has been coming for so long. You’re trying to get through it.”
Ending their Rustler careers as three-peat national champs is a nice way to end it.
“You couldn’t really ask for anything else,” says Varga. “It’s a pretty sweet way to end it, being able to say you’d won nationals three times in a row. It was a pretty exciting achievement for all of us.”
Matthews agrees, saying, “It’s a really nice bow on our college careers and our time here as athletes.”
The players on the team are especially close, the players explain, which ultimately helps them on the court.
“We live with a lot of our teammates in residence,” Varga says. “You’ve got practice and you’ve got classes with them and then you go home and still get to see each other. It’s nice though, being around everybody and spending that time together. You know everybody’s personality and what they need to be encouraged. You care for each other and you trust one another on and off the court.”
“I’ve been on two other teams,” Letkeman agrees. “This is definitely the closest one I’ve been on.”
Matthews attributes the difference to the culture at Lakeland, saying, “Lakeland as a college is very community-centred. You know all of your teammates and your classmates and your instructors. You’re on a first-name basis with them. and it’s very homey versus university when you’re in a class with 200 people and your professor doesn’t know your name.”
As for how they think their teammates will do on the courts after they graduate, Matthews is excited to see them step in to fill the gaps she and the others are leaving.
“It’s exciting to be graduating and seeing who’s coming in to fill our boots,” Matthews says. The next group of girls, they’ve got big shoes to fill and they’ve got really big feet.”
“They’ll step up,” Letkeman says.
“They’ll be just fine,” Varga agrees. “They’re Rustlers.”
The Rustlers women's volleyball team's 2024-25 season was historic for many reasons. The team completed a perfect 25-0 season - the first undefeated season in the program's history - while winning their third straight CCAA and Alberta Athletic Conference (ACAC) championships, the first team in the ACAC's 60-year history to win three national titles in a row. Head Coach Austin Dyer also received both the 2024-25 ACAC Overall Coaching Excellence and the 2025 CCAA Coaching Excellence Awards. Read more about the historic season and Dyer's awards at gorustlers.ca.
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