ATHLETIC AWAKENING LEADS TO PODIUM DREAMS

"Flower picker" no more, Ashley Voth learned to love volleyball. Now one of the country's premier players, it's safe to say the game loves her back.

Don Marks
December 2008

You wouldn't guess it, but Ashley Voth spent the first ten years of her life hating sports.

Ashley's parents, Lloyd and Val, were volleyball aficionados, both graduates of elite university programs (Dad a Bison, mom a Wesmen). They went on to play coed games and to coach younger players. And so daughter Ashley found herself being dragged to some "grungy/dingy gym" every other night.

"I wanted to stay home because I liked sewing, and painting and making handicrafts," Ashley recalled.

She seemed to be from a different era, a spawn of the 1950s' Ward and June Cleaver, not two circa 2008 Phys Ed teachers.

"Yes, we were worried that Ashley was going to be a ‘flower picker' (the kid who wanders around a soccer field smelling the daisies instead of following the play during soccer games)," says dad Lloyd with a laugh. "We even registered Ashley in the Teddy Boy gymnastics program at the tender age of a year-and-a-half and she hated it."

Indeed, from the crib to the age of 10, young Ashley was content to play with paints and paper. And so mom and dad, both teachers, felt it important to encourage her creative pursuits. But forever athletes, they quietly took comfort in the yearly measurements provided by their pediatrician.

"Ashley's growth measurements always placed her in the 99th percentile," Lloyd said. "Ashley measured 25 and a half inches in length at just a year old. But there was no volleyball league for one year olds."

It isn't often that a lack of parental pressure leads a child to good choices while peer pressure does, but that's exactly what happened in Ashley Voth's case.

At Grade 5, Ashley was placed in a new elementary school, and all of the students at Oak Bluff Community School played volleyball, basketball or soccer.

"I wanted to fit in so there was no other choice than to follow the bouncing ball," she conceded.

Lloyd and Val never pushed her, but once Ashley decided that she did indeed like sports, both were incredibly supportive. Coaching, weight training, driving her and brother Chris (now with the Bison men's team) to practices and games in a number of sports became parental practice for the Voths.

When she entered high school and began to specialize in volleyball, Ashley quickly became a star at St. Mary's Academy. Her high school teams were competitive, but cracking the Top 10 was their limit. Meanwhile, Ashley was touted as the "best graduating high school player" in Manitoba.

Heavily recruited by volleyball programs throughout the country, the 6'2" Voth enrolled at the University of Manitoba, along with five close friends and teammates who had played together on a Bisons development team run by University of Manitoba women's volleyball coach Ken Bentley.

"Some people questioned why I chose the University of Manitoba because their women's volleyball team hadn't been too successful or ranked nationally," Ashley said. "But we knew what we had with the Bison junior team and we were all friends and wanted to stick together."

Ashley, along with Sarah Morrisette, Amy Sigfussin, Christine Evert, Amy Penner and Monica Chernican (who has since left), lifted the Bisons program to the number one ranking in the country by the 2007/08 season. They held that ranking right through to the Final Four Canada West playdowns, but inexplicably, disaster struck, as first they fell to the No. 5 Alberta Pandas to drop down to bronze consideration, and then tripped to tin by losing to No. 3 UBC. The Bisons season ended much sooner than anybody expected.

Despite the setback, you won't hear any complaints from Coach Bentley, who's as impressed with Voth's attitude as her athleticism.

"She's been an impact player here since she arrived, and a great athlete. But the other piece that's equally important is the attitude she brings every day. She comes out, practices hard, and always in a cheerful, positive manner. It's refreshing to have a player at this level come out and try hard every day."

Voth's mettle was tested when an appendectomy sidelined her in early October, forcing the Bisons star to miss more than eight weeks of training and competition.

"This group has done everything in the past two years but win it all," says Bentley, "and we essentially had to play the whole first half without her. Before she got sick, she was playing at a very high level—probably the best she's ever played and trained. She's anxious to get back to that level."

"She's got a ways to go, but she's working hard to catch up. And she's not scared to train or practice—she'll do whatever she has to do."

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Volleyball players don't realize their prime until they are about 27 years old. If the past is any indication, the next decade of Ashley's life should keep a lot of cabinetmakers and trophy casters plenty busy.

Voth quickly emerged as a star for the Bisons, winning both the CIS Rookie of the Year award and Bison MVP award in 2007. [Photo by Jason Halstead]

In 2004, Voth was chosen Sport Manitoba Athlete of the Year after being named Manitoba Volleyball's female 16-and-under Player of the Year. She was named Most Valuable Player at the U of Calgary's Dino Cup tournament in 2006, Canada West Female Athlete of the Week (2006/07), Canada West Rookie of the Year (2007), All-Rookie Team and Second Team All-Star and Bisons MVP (2006/07).

From the cradle to the courts, Voth now finds herself playing all over the world. She represented Canada at the 2006 NORCECA Junior Women's Continental Championship in Monterrey, Mexico, and at the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok. And that was only a taste of things to come.

This past May, Voth was selected to suit up for Canada's national women's volleyball team.

"I want to be part of Canada's rise to the top of the world in volleyball. Our national team was always getting close but they couldn't get past teams from countries that were ranked slightly above or below us. But last winter, we beat the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico before losing to Cuba in the final."

The loss to Cuba prevented the Canadian team from qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, but Ashley already has her sights set on the time when she will be approaching her athletic prime.

"Now we know that we can actually beat teams we are closely ranked with instead of just coming close and that is a big, big step," she said.

Selected to Canada's national team in 2008, Voth is hoping for a trip to London in 2012. [Photo courtesy of Rusty Barton/Volleyball Canada]

"That gives me hope that I'll be part of the team that qualifies for the Olympics in London in 2012. In addition to training (and playing) with the national team, I competed with the national junior team and we have a lot of young, very outstanding players ready to step up in four years."

And after that?

"I could play volleyball until I'm 40," she says. "I would love to play professionally in Europe. Maybe Italy. Live in a villa overlooking the sea.

"I want to fulfill my five years of eligibility at the U. of M. and I'm thinking about a career in business. But my experience in Bangkok really opened my eyes to what I really want in the future."

And what she really wants is gold. Olympic gold.

"When I watch a Canadian team win a gold medal on TV, like the Canadian junior hockey team, I just get the shivers!"

And she would love to experience the feeling firsthand, standing on a podium with her teammates in 2012.