A national champion will be joining the Briercrest College and Seminary women’s volleyball team this fall.

Amanda Lundquist, a 5’10” setting from Surrey, BC, has had a great deal of personal and team success throughout her career, something Briercrest women’s volleyball head coach Nolan Weinmaster is excited about.

“We want players in our program who have experienced success and know what it takes to win”, he said. “Amanda has had a lot of success at all different levels of volleyball, both indoor and on the beach court, and I am ecstatic to adding that type of experience to our team. Winning is a learned habit and Amanda definitely knows how to do that.”

Lundquist started playing volleyball in Grade 5 at Pacific Academy. She played club volleyball with several area clubs and was chosen for Team BC the summer of 2009.

In addition to winning a club volleyball national championship in 2009 with Seaside, Lundquist won a 2010 BC high school provincial bronze medal with P.A., won the 2008, 2009, and 2010 BC Provincial Club Championships with Seaside, won a bronze medal with Team BC, won the Best of the West club tournament in 2010, and also a bronze medal at the BC summer games. She also represented Canada at Volleyfest in Phoenix, AZ, where she won a bronze medal.

Lundquist was coached by Rob Gowe during her time with Seaside Volleyball Club.

“Amanda is an evolving setter who has great all around skills, passion for the game and a desire to win and improve her game”, Gowe said. “Her serve can be an amazing offensive weapon, she makes good decisions and plays very good defense. Amanda is also a very effective offensive option as a setter, making quick, decisive plays to attack the second contact before the defense has time to react.”

Lundquist has also been honored with team MVP, Best Offensive Player, Best Defensive Player and tournament All-Star awards for high school volleyball, including a BC School Sports Athletic Association Tournament All-Star during her Grade 12 season.

Stacey Stang, head coach at Pacific Academy, recognizes Lundquist’s valuable contributions to their program’s success.

“As a player, she’s been an integral part of our provincial berths each year, two Fraser Valley Championships and a third place ranking in the province”, Stang said. “She is passionate and works hard to earn points for her team.”

 “I appreciate her humor, her passion, her obvious love of her teammates,” Stang continued. “I appreciate her respect and work ethic –how hard she works each and every time we hit the gym.  She is a quiet leader at times, but always effective and consistent . . . the girls [teammates] love her.”

Possessing the skills to play both setter and outside hitter in the indoor game made beach volleyball a natural fit for Lundquist. She began playing beach in Grade 7 with the BC Volleyball Coquitlam Club and has continued to have great success on the sand ever since. A few highlights from a long list of achievements include winning a silver medal at the 2009 Canadian National Beach Championship, winning gold at the 2010 BC Summer Games, winning the BC provincial championships in 2006, 2008, and 2009, and also winning the 2008 Western Canadian Beach Volleyball Championship.

Lundquist has excelled in the classroom as well, proven by her being on the honor roll throughout her high school years and also making the Headmaster’s List at Pacific Academy.

Coach Weinmaster believes Lundquist is the perfect fit for their team.

“Amanda is an ideal fit for our women’s volleyball program”, Weinmaster said. “She is the definition of the type of athlete we want here at Briercrest—one who has a great attitude and character, wants to be in an environment where she will continue to develop spiritually and grow in that character, while earning a valuable academic degree. She is also someone who wants to win and is willing to do what it takes to become the best athlete they can be. I am really looking forward to being her coach and I believe she is going to bring so many great things to our team!”

Lundquist is looking forward to attending Briercrest in the fall and continuing to grow her passion for volleyball.

“My favorite thing to do is play volleyball”, she said. “[When indoor season is over] I always look forward to the beach season, I feel like my heart stays on the court.”

Other than volleyball, Lundquist is looking forward to being in Caronport, where her mom, Patricia attended high school, and working on her BA in Applied Linguistics: TESOL, in a great Christian community environment.

“I am planning to study applied linguistics and take the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages course”, Lundquist said. “I am very interested in Asian culture and I hope to move to Korea after university to become an English teacher. I am excited to be going to Briercrest because it seems like a family-like community and the girls on the volleyball team seem like a great group of girls that I will feel at home with even though it’s a long ways from home.”

Lundquist got a taste of being a “teacher” overseas this past year on a school missions trip to Israel.

“My favorite experience with my school was a missions trip to Israel,” Lundquist said. “While in Israel we worked mostly with elementary schools. We painted murals there and did crafts with the kids, donated school supplies and clothes, and helped with English classes. We also did a lot of sightseeing and it was really cool seeing the places first hand where Bible stories took place—it was a really neat feeling!”