The thought of playing varsity volleyball had always been lurking in the back of the mind of Emily McDonald.

The graduate of both Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School and the Northern Chill Volleyball Club program had managed to keep up her skills, in spite of a circuitous few years that would see the 25 year-old alter her academic plans, quite dramatically, all while adding a side trip, for just under a year, to New Zealand.

Yet as she prepared, back in September, to complete her final year of a University of Toronto degree in Earth and Environmental Systems, with a minor in Environmental and Physical Georgraphy, this multi-faceted budding actress would make her way out to the Varsity Blues' tryouts.

"It always felt like a hole, a missed opportunity," suggested McDonald, whose original line of study pursuit, directly out of high-school, was Criminology. "The core reason was always that I felt that I had missed that follow-up from my time with the Chill."

It wasn't as though McDonald had completely shelved the sport in which she had enjoyed a great deal of success, both as a member of the Knights, but also through the Club system. "I think there was a small underlying hope, a dream," she noted.

"I was maintaining my skills so that one day, I could try and do it - all with an overarching realism that it's probably not going to happen."

Even as life veered right, then left, then south of the Equator, the thought persisted.

Taking a little time away from the post-secondary environment, McDonald left for New Zealand in the spring of 2017, but not before doing some research on volleyball opportunities in the Land of the Kiwis.

"They have a club volleyball equivalent, but with no age limit," she explained. Then 21, McDonald was right in the middle of a lineup that included an ultra-talented 16 year old, a couple of girls that were 25, some in their thirties and one who was nearly forty.

"Our team (Canterbury Region) would have been neck and neck, caliber-wise, with 17U club play in Ontario," said McDonald. "But some of the teams were jacked. One had a 30 year old ex Team USA player; it was that kind of fun dynamic."

It was also where she made the move from middle to outside hitter, a key learning moment given the average size of the Varsity Blues' middles. "It's not like I expected to ease my way into this team," said the 5'10" Sudbury girl, selected as one of 22 athletes training with the team this year.

That is, at the moment, the extent of her role. Court time, in game situations, is a goal that still lies ahead - and that is just fine with Emily McDonald. "It was kind of a rude awakening, but in a way that I was thankful for," she said.

"I kind of realized the opportunity that I was getting."

She also realized, quite quickly, the gap between all that she had seen on the court, and this wonderful new world of OUA competition.

"When you are playing rec (recreational) ball and only games, you forget about ball handling skills and control and how crucial those drills are," offered McDonald. "The simplest warm-up ball control drills are probably the hardest."

While a final decision remains to be made (one senses that very little in the life of Emily McDonald is 100% cast on stone, at any given time), she is looking towards post-graduate studies that would allow her to combine academia and athletics just a little bit longer.

"My first thought was a masters, just because I am really enjoying school right now - and it's taken me a long time to enjoy post-secondary school."

Regardless, the varsity volleyball experience will not be relegated to the far spectrum of the "what ifs" of her life. The full-time Toronto resident can check this one off her list.

"I'm not worrying about court time; I just love the sport so much."