Stay informed with the LNN Daily Newsletter
Claire Talbot has committed to the Lethbridge College Kodiaks (Photo courtesy Lethbridge College, Kodiaks Athletics)

Lethbridge volleyball standout Claire Talbot commits to Kodiaks

May 25, 2021 | 11:24 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A Lethbridge-born volleyball standout is set to suit up for the Kodiaks next season.

Claire Talbot has committed to the Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s volleyball team. The middle will join the club after graduating from Catholic Central High School (CCH). In addition to playing for CCH, Talbot hit the court with the Panthers Volleyball Club in Coaldale.

Kodiaks head coach Anna Schwark said Talbot has made a strong impression in recent season, particularly with the “high compete” level she has displayed every time she’s taken the court.

Schwark stated that, “Claire has been a really strong and consistent athlete in the middle since I had started watching her a few years ago.”

“It is so apparent from watching her in games and at camps that she takes her training seriously and has a lot of fun competing. I think Claire is coming in with a great skill set and has the potential to really compete with our senior athletes.”

Talbot remarked that the chance to connect with Schwark and various Kodiaks athletes made her confident that Lethbridge College offered an environment that she wanted to be a part of.

“I’ve been keeping in contact with Anna for a couple years now and I met her probably while being a Panther. I’ve met some of the [Kodiaks] team and I thought it was a great atmosphere and I just really wanted to be involved in the program.”

LOCAL ATHLETES STAYING LOCAL

Schwark said that convincing local star athletes to continue playing in their home community used to be a challenge, however, that’s starting to change.

The Kodiaks coach noted that, “I think for a long time, high school athletes really had their sights elsewhere for post-secondary and there just wasn’t any excitement for them to stay and represent Lethbridge College.”

“Having girls like Claire or Eryka [Woods], Taryn [Bach] and Alyssa [Pavka] join us last year proves that our program is highly competitive, and we can have a lot of fun being a successful program and this creates a lot of interest for us.”

Looking at her time with the Panthers Volleyball Club, Talbot credits the club’s co-funder Chris Perry with helping her take her game to the next level.

She said that, Chris was a great influence in my volleyball career and he allowed me to improve as a middle and work on specific things you’re supposed to know. We really dug deeper into every single game and that brought me to realize everything I needed to work on as an athlete.”

STAYING MOTIVATED DURING COVID-19

Despite not playing a high school season this past year due to the pandemic, Talbot said she tried to go to the gym to train as much as possible, combined with working out at home.

“This summer I’m going to go for a run every day and hopefully do some cardio in my basement and just keep it active.”

Coach Schwark remarked that she cannot wait to see her full team return to competitive play “someday soon”.

“I think we all really felt that the 2020-21 season was going to be something special for us and though we have lost a few graduating members, we still have a really strong group of highly motivated seniors and probably our strongest group of incoming recruits since I have been with the program. I think our compete level will improve and we will be playing with more endurance and strength for sure.”

Last month, the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) was granted approval to pre-draft schedules for teams. More details are available here.

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.