The Bisons women’s volleyball team has had immense success recently, evident by their 2025 U-Sports Championship victory. One of the foundations for this success might be the recruitment process that goes unnoticed. 

The 2026-27 season games for women’s volleyball will start on Oct. 23 against the Trinity Western Spartans in Langley, B.C. For the 2025-26 season, the squad finished with a 16-8 overall record. 

Speaking to the team’s coach, Ken Bentley, about the new season, he made it clear that his primary objective is to ensure that he recruits the top athletes from the province and puts them through the Junior Bisons program. Bentley added that he also recruits nationally and internationally.

When it comes to finding players using game footage, Bentley likes to watch it by himself, but he does not only rely on it, as he likes to go and watch teams play in person. 

Bentley said if he likes the film and has an introductory meeting with the athlete, he might fly the athlete out to evaluate their productivity and skill set, while also determining how well they would fit into the team. 

The coach noted, “I’ve become much more vigilant about doing the best job I can to ensure […] that the athletes I’m recruiting to this program are going to fit […] That they really are going to be excited about what the program offers.” Bentley said he has occasionally made offers on the spot, but he usually likes to tell the athlete to go home and consider the offer, and then get in touch with the athlete in a couple of weeks, at which point he might finally make the offer.

Bentley made it clear that just because an athlete is promised a place on the squad does not mean playing time or a starting position. He added, “It’s up to them to demonstrate if they’re good enough to actually play.”

He revealed that this is because of the message it would send. “I could have players in their third year that have worked really hard to start and maybe haven’t started yet, or have become really good players and might have an opportunity, [but] I’ve placed this first-year kid ahead of them, through that promise. So, now, what would motivate my returning players to want to come in and train hard and be a part of our culture if this is what I’m doing?”

Bentley acknowledged that the athletes are entering a new world with the university program and are largely unaware of what the demands are until they get there, so Bentley’s expectations are fairly low when it comes to their physical preparation. “They’re not very familiar with things like Olympic lifting or how to squat properly,” he said. “These are all things we have to educate them on once they get here. That’s just part of the development process.”

According to Bentley, becoming part of the team is an organic process. Players become familiar through training and being together.