Olivia Bell, a first-year science student at Saint Mary’s University from LaHave, has been enjoying a year rich in accolades.
After being announced as the 2018-19 Atlantic University Sport rookie of the year for volleyball, Bell was recognized at the Feb. 28 AUS awards banquet in Halifax.
She was also named to the national U Sports all-rookie team and received this award at U Sports’ annual All-Canadian gala held on March 14 in Edmonton.
Bell, 18, plays middle for the Saint Mary’s Huskies volleyball team.
The Huskies’ season ran from October to March, the longest and most intense Bell had experienced so far in her volleyball career. And, like all student-athletes, Bell had to learn how to balance her sport with her academic studies, something she worked out during her second semester.
Starting in 20 matches and playing in 68 sets for the Huskies this season, Bell finished with 180.0 points and 2.6 points per set. Her overall record shows 146 kills for the season (2.15 kills per set).
This season, the Huskies ran a three-middle system, rather than a standard system in which the players all maintain one position. With the new three-middle system, Bell and her teammates had to adapt to shifting positions. “I really had to adapt to not only hitting the other playing positions, but passing, because I had never passed before … in a game setting.”
Entering the postseason with an 11-9 win-loss record, the Huskies’ season ended with a March 1 AUS Championships semifinal loss to Dalhousie.
“This team, we had a great season, even though we didn’t have the outcome we wanted,” Bell reflects. “Obviously we wanted to win. But they were very supportive, they made the transition easier, and I’ve made some lifelong friends. Now we have a pretty good idea of what it’s like, and I know what I want going into next season. This year I was just focusing on getting better and stronger, and now I know what I need to do.”
A 2018 graduate of Park View Education Centre in Bridgewater, Bell first discovered her passion for volleyball in junior high school, as a student-athlete at Hebbville Academy. While she enjoyed playing multiple sports (basketball, hockey and soccer, as well as volleyball), Bell realized that volleyball carried its own unique spark.
“For the most part, sports are repetitive,” Bell explains. “In volleyball, you can score your points in so many different ways. I just find it’s a lot more exciting because the rallies can go on forever, and people can hit the ball really hard. I grew up loving to watch the older girls play. That motivated me to decide, “I want to be that good someday. I want to do that.’”
Competitive success runs in Bell’s family. She and her 20-year-old brother, Joshua, competed in the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg. Olivia was a member of the women’s volleyball team, while Joshua, part of the athletics team, competed in the javelin throw.
“Josh has always been an incredible athlete,” Bells says of her older brother. “I’ve always looked up to him, and he’s definitely been a role model for me. Josh is a brother, so he pushes me. He doesn’t hold back. So if he thinks I didn’t play well, he’ll tell me. Wanting to prove him wrong has pushed me forward, and so now I have that mentality.”
The Bell family has endured tragedy. Olivia was only eight years old when her father, Peter, was lost at sea. “My dad and I, we were really close,” she says. “Losing him at such a young age (meant that) I was pushed out into the world sooner. I had to grow up faster and take on more responsible roles. With my mom being a single parent and my brother and I being so close in age, we had to be there for each other.”
Bell remembers her father as “a huge hockey fan, so we used to go to the pond and play pond hockey, and ball hockey in our driveway. That’s the first memory of sports that I have. My dad was so competitive. Even though we were little kids, he wouldn’t be easy on us. We still had to try.”
Bell is also inspired by her mother, Lisa. “My mom owns her own landscaping business. If it’s not perfect, she will not go home. So I get this from both of my parents.”
Her mother’s steady emotional support is something Bell is grateful for. “I don’t think she’s missed any of my home games. Even if she’s been working and had to miss a game, I still knew she was thinking about me.”
Bell knows her success is the result not only of natural talent, but of hard work. “A coach told me that I wasn’t going to be my best until my third year in university, so the earlier you can put in that hard work, and the more motivated you are to be stronger, the faster you’ll get to that point.
“It took me a couple of years, because I was stubborn and young, but finally I bought in. Doing (all that extra work) really paid off, and I really stepped up my game this year. But I know there’s room for improvement, and I’m excited to show that.”
