It was a hell of a dig.
The ball hit Chelsea Jensen on the face. 
Ryerson Rams head coach Dustin Reid called it the “turning point” of the win against the Royal Military College Paladins last Friday because it helped the Rams level the match at one set apiece. 
“It’s part of the game, it happens,” Jensen says. “Take it on the chin, for a lack of better words.”
It was a play that showcased just why the fourth-year player is an integral part of her team’s successes in women’s volleyball. Jensen is a well-rounded player, good on defense and offense. This play against RMC started with her on defense, specifically on the receiving end of a Paladins strike that she saved with her head. Then, she was the one who ended the point with one of her 15 kills of the match. She says that, “I’m a pretty tough player and I like to grit it out.”
Jensen was coming off back-to-back career performances in her previous games, against the Western Mustangs and the Windsor Lancers where she totaled, respectively, 16 kills and 12 digs, and 18 kills and 12 digs. Most importantly, the team came away with two important wins. Jensen was named the Boston Pizza Female Athlete of the Week, but she downplays it because volleyball is a team sport. “I’m really proud of how everybody works together,” she says, “and how everybody takes everybody’s faults and positives.”
These individual performances come at the tail end of a historical season for the Rams. With a win against RMC, and another one against the Queen’s Gaels the following day, the Rams finish the season with seven wins in a row, and are ranked third in the OUA conference with a 14–4 record. On Feb. 16, 2013, the Rams will host the first playoff game of their history against the McMaster Marauders, but Reid warns against being happy with just that. “The goal of the regular season is to qualify for the playoffs,” he says. “Our success in the playoffs will determine how (successful) the year is.”
And yet, that Rams team might be the most overlooked in all Ryerson athletics. Reid thinks that it’s not restricted to only his volleyball team, but that every female sport is overlooked. Support has been hard to find—against RMC, the ones who were most vocal in the stands of the Mattamy Athletic Centre Gym were supporters of the Paladins. “We’re trying to focus on building a great program,” Reid says, “and this will create interest.”
Jensen is in her fourth year of eligibility, but only in her second season with Ryerson. She hails from Georgetown, Ont., but went to Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., for two seasons because she had received a volleyball scholarship. It didn’t last long, and Jensen decided to come back home for the remaining three seasons of her career. “I was a little homesick and I thought it was better for me to be closer to home,” she says. “My family comes to every game.”
Reid describes Jensen as a fierce competitor on the court. “She doesn’t back down from any challenges,” Reid says. “On top of all the skills that she brings to the team, it’s that mindset that helps lead us.” At five-foot-nine, Jensen isn’t the tallest player on the court, but she has racked up 145 kills and 29 service aces this season. She can do just as well on defense too, with 152 digs in the year.
Off the volleyball court, Jensen says that, “I like to make everybody laugh and I’m a sensitive person.” She describes herself as goofy and serious. “It’s kind of contradictory, but it’s who I am,” she says.
Jensen also has a love story with dogs, not cats. “Every different type of dog is my favourite,” she says. “I’m an animal lover, I would say. But dogs, especially, are the key to my heart.”
Fellas, take note. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.

This story was first published in The Ryersonian, a weekly newspaper produced by the Ryerson School of Journalism, on February 13, 2013