Bulmer, a setter, is much like the quarterback in a football game. In charge of the offence, she decides who should get the ball and when. It doesn’t matter how good a team’s hitters are if it doesn’t have a setter that can consistently deliver a good ball to hit.
While the Axewomen haven’t necessarily always translated their talent and youthful enthusiasm into wins, Bulmer has had a good season personally, culminating in a conference all-rookie selection.
“I feel that last year, as a team, we all knew it was a development year. We worked within the situation we had. Now we believe we’ve all grown and matured, both as volleyball players and as people,” Bulmer said.
“Last year had to happen for this year to happen. The results may not be there yet in the standings, but they’re coming. We’re on a great path.”
Bulmer is helping make that a reality. Entering play Jan. 17, she was among the conference leaders in assists (eighth) and assists per set (sixth).
Longtime passion for sport
Bulmer began playing volleyball in Grade 7 on her school’s B team.
“I was too scared to try out for the A team,” she said, even though her older sister was on the team.
She started playing club volleyball the following year. Her development wasn’t dramatic – “I wasn’t very big at that time,” not like today, when she stands five-foot-10.
Her first experience was as a left-handed left side hitter.
“Then I moved to the right side. I really loved playing there.”
In Grade 9, she started with the Tigers club program, where her coach, Rick Scott, who is now head coach at Dalhousie, shifted her to train as a setter.
“I hadn’t played there before. It was a totally different position, and a whole different perspective,” she said.
Being a setter “was tough at the beginning,” she said.
“You can take a lot of the blame, whether it’s your fault or not, because you’re in on almost every play.”
Eventually, though, “what scared you at first becomes the part you like the most.”
Bulmer, who attended high school at Halifax West, enjoyed her first year as an Axewomen player.
“You learn a lot about yourself, about your teammates, and about life. For the returning players, we all learned from last year, and it’s helped us be a better team this season.”
Team improving
Entering their Jan. 17 match at Cape Breton, Acadia had won two of its nine matches, including interlocking matches against strong volleyball schools from Quebec.
Their second win, a five-set victory over Moncton on Jan. 10 in Wolfville, was, according to Bulmer, “the kind of a win you’ll remember for a long time.”
Acadia was down 1-0 and 2-1, and “it would have been easy to just roll over. That we were able to win shows how much we’re willing to push ourselves, and how much we’ve improved.”
Athletically, her goal is to help the Axewomen get deep into the playoffs both this year and next, and hopefully contend for a conference championship.
“Even though we have our veteran players, we’re still a young team, age and experience-wise, which allows us to continue to grow together as a team.”
At Acadia
According to Bulmer, what led her to choose Acadia to study engineering and play volleyball was coach Michelle Wood “and the direction you could see the program was headed.”
Academically, she was intrigued by Acadia’s small class sizes and the chance to get to know her professors and develop an interaction with them.
“I didn’t want to be just a number,” she said.
Bulmer is taking a two-year engineering certificate program at Acadia and hopes, in the future, to do something with biomedical engineering, although she realizes she will likely need to go to another university to do so.
“Working in a hospital or a clinic really interests me,” she said.
Bulmer plans to take three years to finish her program at Acadia.
“I’m planning to be here three years regardless,” she said.
“I wish it could be five. I’m loving it here.”
Bulmer, a setter, is much like the quarterback in a football game. In charge of the offence, she decides who should get the ball and when. It doesn’t matter how good a team’s hitters are if it doesn’t have a setter that can consistently deliver a good ball to hit.
While the Axewomen haven’t necessarily always translated their talent and youthful enthusiasm into wins, Bulmer has had a good season personally, culminating in a conference all-rookie selection.
“I feel that last year, as a team, we all knew it was a development year. We worked within the situation we had. Now we believe we’ve all grown and matured, both as volleyball players and as people,” Bulmer said.
“Last year had to happen for this year to happen. The results may not be there yet in the standings, but they’re coming. We’re on a great path.”
Bulmer is helping make that a reality. Entering play Jan. 17, she was among the conference leaders in assists (eighth) and assists per set (sixth).
Longtime passion for sport
Bulmer began playing volleyball in Grade 7 on her school’s B team.
“I was too scared to try out for the A team,” she said, even though her older sister was on the team.
She started playing club volleyball the following year. Her development wasn’t dramatic – “I wasn’t very big at that time,” not like today, when she stands five-foot-10.
Her first experience was as a left-handed left side hitter.
“Then I moved to the right side. I really loved playing there.”
In Grade 9, she started with the Tigers club program, where her coach, Rick Scott, who is now head coach at Dalhousie, shifted her to train as a setter.
“I hadn’t played there before. It was a totally different position, and a whole different perspective,” she said.
Being a setter “was tough at the beginning,” she said.
“You can take a lot of the blame, whether it’s your fault or not, because you’re in on almost every play.”
Eventually, though, “what scared you at first becomes the part you like the most.”
Bulmer, who attended high school at Halifax West, enjoyed her first year as an Axewomen player.
“You learn a lot about yourself, about your teammates, and about life. For the returning players, we all learned from last year, and it’s helped us be a better team this season.”
Team improving
Entering their Jan. 17 match at Cape Breton, Acadia had won two of its nine matches, including interlocking matches against strong volleyball schools from Quebec.
Their second win, a five-set victory over Moncton on Jan. 10 in Wolfville, was, according to Bulmer, “the kind of a win you’ll remember for a long time.”
Acadia was down 1-0 and 2-1, and “it would have been easy to just roll over. That we were able to win shows how much we’re willing to push ourselves, and how much we’ve improved.”
Athletically, her goal is to help the Axewomen get deep into the playoffs both this year and next, and hopefully contend for a conference championship.
“Even though we have our veteran players, we’re still a young team, age and experience-wise, which allows us to continue to grow together as a team.”
At Acadia
According to Bulmer, what led her to choose Acadia to study engineering and play volleyball was coach Michelle Wood “and the direction you could see the program was headed.”
Academically, she was intrigued by Acadia’s small class sizes and the chance to get to know her professors and develop an interaction with them.
“I didn’t want to be just a number,” she said.
Bulmer is taking a two-year engineering certificate program at Acadia and hopes, in the future, to do something with biomedical engineering, although she realizes she will likely need to go to another university to do so.
“Working in a hospital or a clinic really interests me,” she said.
Bulmer plans to take three years to finish her program at Acadia.
“I’m planning to be here three years regardless,” she said.
“I wish it could be five. I’m loving it here.”