She is the first player in the history of the South Delta Sun Devils girls volleyball program to have a leading role in her team winning a Canadian national championship and now Jayde Robertsen is hoping her passport comes into play for the next stage of her career.
The 6-foot-2 middle is fresh off leading the UBC Thunderbirds to a memorable home court run at the recent USport Championships, capped by a thrilling five-set win over No. 1 seed Trinity Western in the title game. Robertsen’s performance earned her tournament all-star honours and it’s added momentum for where the soon-to-be arts graduate intends on playing next.
“I’m going to be playing pro (in Europe), hopefully in August. Right now, it’s up in the air where I’m exactly going, but that’s the plan right now,” said Robertsen. “Travelling is something that is important for me at this stage of my life and to be able to do it while playing one of my passions, would be awesome.”
Robertsen would not be the first SDSS grad to take her game overseas. After a decorated career on a full-ride scholarship to the University of Houston, Lucy Charuk spent more than a decade in Europe with various stops in pro leagues including Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Germany. She also was a fixture with the national women’s team.
More recently, twins Megan and Nicole McNamara, are currently playing on the on the international beach volleyball circuit after graduating from UCLA where they led the Bruins to a pair of national championships while earning All-honours.
Robertsen also started her university career down south at Eastern Washington before transferring to Point Grey after her freshman season.
She immediately got a taste of the program’s continue success under head coach Doug Reimer when UBC won the national title in 2019. However, some turbulence followed including getting bounced out of the CanWest playoffs in the quarter-finals by Mount Royal in 2020 and the pandemic wiping out the 2021 campaign. Last season, UBC dropped a pair of matches in the abbreviated CanWest Final Four playoffs.
“To win that gold medal that first year was huge. I played a very small role, but it was it was huge just to learn from those seniors. To experience that when you’re young is huge,” added Robertsen. “COVID was obviously not ideal for anyone of course, but we definitely had our ups and downs coming out of it and didn’t make it past the playoffs. It was kind of a roller coaster ride for two to three years for sure. That’s what makes this one this year so much better.”
