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PREP VOLLEYBALL: Canby’s Varcoe ready to carry on dream of playing college volleyball

Independent file photo Canby’s Haley Varcoe goes up for a spike during an Aug. 29 game against Murray County Central. Varcoe will be heading to Northwestern College in Iowa next fall.

CANBY – This past fall the Canby Lancers finished the season with a 16-8 record and made it to the Round of 16, before losing to Central Minnesota Christian. Haley Varcoe was a driving force behind Canby’s strong season. The middle hitter averaged 3.3 kills per set and led the Camden Conference with 78 blocks.

Varcoe was a mainstay for a Lancer team that compiled a 29-12 regular season record over the past two years. This fall she’ll be taking her talents to Orange City, Iowa, where she’ll be continuing her academic and volleyball career.

“I’ve wanted to play college volleyball for as long as I can remember,” Varcoe said. “As a little girl that’s what I wanted to do. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it, but I always knew I wanted to. The opportunity presented itself when I was looking for colleges. Northwestern contacted me and it just went from there.”

Not only does Varcoe excel on the court, she excels in the classroom, earning an Academic All-State selection this past season. Varcoe plans to major in biology and chemistry during her time at Northwestern College.

This past fall the Red Raiders started the season 1-6, but bounced back by going 17-11 to finish the season with an 18-17 record. Since 2005 the Red Raiders have never had a losing season and have compiled a 305-100 record.

Orange City is a town with a population of 6,151. That small town feel and the winning culture surrounding the volleyball program were big deciding factors for Varcoe.

“It’s a small campus and it just felt like home,” Varcoe said. “The academics there are outstanding. The volleyball program there is amazing. It was just the right fit for me.”

Varcoe is nearly two years younger than her older sister, Kaitlin. Growing up, Haley looked up to her elder sister and wanted to be just like her. That want to be like her sister led Haley to start playing volleyball in fourth grade.

“I’m younger then my sister and she was always playing sports,” Varcoe said. “I just latched onto volleyball, because that’s what she did and I always wanted to be just like her. I started to do everything she did and realized I wasn’t that bad at it, and just started putting more work into my game. I just can’t imagine not playing volleyball.”

The past four years Varcoe has been a big fish in a little pond. Varcoe said the biggest challenge she’ll face at the next level is the step up in competition.

“In high school it seems like every team has one or two, maybe three good players,” Varcoe said. “In college every player was their high school’s best player. The competition is up everywhere and the game is just way faster.”

The small town community in Orange City reminded Varcoe of Canby, a place where she made lifelong memories. Varcoe will miss her hometown, but said she’s looking forward to making new memories with her new teammates.

“I’m going to miss my teammates,” Varcoe said. “The environment here in Canby is great. It’s home and everybody in the community knows who you are and they come out to support you. All of my teammates pushed me to get better. It’s my comfort zone here and I look forward to next year.”

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