A second-year member of the Saskatchewan Huskies women’s volleyball team is stepping out of both her brother’s shadows.
Brian and Colin Fraser were both stars for the Huskies’ men’s team, and this season, the spotlight is on their sister, Mandi Fraser.
Both brothers try to watch her games and Fraser said she relies on them to provide guidance as she continues to improve her game, even if it is from afar.
“Colin is overseas in Switzerland, so it’s a little bit harder for him to watch me. But he’ll look at the stats and he’ll text me usually the day after,” Fraser said.
“But Brian’s typically watching my games and giving me feedback. I usually text him after every single game, so I’m always getting something from both of them.”
Quite often, a brother or sister will follow their sibling into an athletic program, but it’s not that often that it is three children from the same family on the men’s and women’s side of competition.
It’s even rarer for them to have the same coach at the university level.
“When I first started coaching here with the men’s program, Brian was on the team and then shortly after Colin joined,” said Mark Dodds, Huskies head coach.
“To be able to coach both of them and sort of have an idea of what their family is like and the drive and the passion that they have to be great at everything that they do, it set me up really well to coach Mandi.”
Fraser finds herself at or near the top of a number of volleyball stats in the Canada West this year.
She is quick to pass on the credit to her teammates and coach for her success this season.
“I think that my connection with our centre is like the big reason why I’m doing so well in those top categories,” Fraser said.
“Also, the coaching. I’ve been really pushed this year and like pushing myself also. So I think that also plays a big role.”
Setter Averie Allard said Fraser has stepped up her game this season.
“(She’s) taking a leadership role on the court and just asking more from her teammates than we expect from ourselves,” Allard said.
“And I certainly appreciate that as a competitive player.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams look to finish off their schedule with victories before the Christmas break when they host the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack on Friday and Saturday.
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