Badgers Stirling makes impact as freshman

After enjoying a great high school career, Whitby, Ontario native Tori Stirling, a member of the Brock University women’s volleyball team stepped into the starting role as freshman in 2009-10 and made an immediate impact with the Badgers.

In her senior year at Sinclair Secondary School, Stirling led her team to an OFSAA gold medal. She was named Team MVP in both her sophomore and junior seasons and was a nominee for Female Athlete of the Year each of her four years at Sinclair. When she was not on the court, Stirling was an exceptional alpine skier excelling in the giant slolom.

In 2008, she was also a member of the DRVC team who captured the U18 OVA Provincial Championship.

Stirling, the first member of her family to play at the university level, was the Badgers top recruit this past season and showed from day one that she could play at the next level.

“After recruiting Tori last season, she knew what I expected from her as rookie and she worked hard on her game prior to coming to Brock in September,” said Brock head coach Lucas Hodgson. “She had an exceptional rookie season this year and we look for her to be one of our key offensive leaders in the upcoming years.”

“ My first season at Brock as a student and athlete was unbelievable,” said Stirling. “I had so much fun with the team and meeting so many new people. It was hard to adjust at first and manage my time, but it got easier as the season progressed. I learned a lot from my teammates and look forward to next year when it will be even better.”

In her first season she put together one of the best seasons by a Brock freshman in the past decade. She appeared in all 18 matches, which included 71 of 76 games. She was fourth on the team in kills with 110 and collected 124 digs. For her performance she was named the Badgers Rookie of the Year.

“Tori is only going to grow as a volleyball player each year and we expect she will be a leader on and off the court in the coming years helping lead this team to the next level," said Hodgson. "If she sets her mind to get stronger over the summer and keeps developing her game she will be a tough player to stop for the next three plus seasons.”

"Next season my main individual goal is to hit the gym hard and become stronger so I can be a bigger asset for my team,” said Stirling. “My goal for the team is to remain drama free like this year, and play as hard in practices as we do in games. When we play an entire season like we played the second half this year we will show the rest of the province that we are the team to beat.”

When asked about role models throughout her career Stirling spoke about two individuals. “My role model in sport is a girl I played club ball with Katie Fitzgerald,” explained Stirling. “Katie was the most positive and intense player I have ever played with and she always left everything on the court.  My role model in life is my mom because she has always been so supportive and involved with everything my sister and I do, and hopefully someday I can be like that for my kids.”

Stirling has also been involved herself as a role model teaching younger players. For the past two summers she worked as a coach at the DRVC volleyball camp teaching girls ages 7-13 the basic skills of volleyball. Last summer she was also a coach at the Durham College Elite volleyball camps teaching players how to bring their skills to the next level.

When she is not training this summer, Stirling plans to work and spend time at the cottage with her family and friends.