Bio

Women’s volleyball legend Tara MacIntyre Olesen, in her three years at Dal was a two-time AUAA (now AUS) MVP and a three-time AUAA champion and was initially recruited for Dal’s women’s basketball team. MacIntyre knew she wanted to play volleyball, but her athletic gifts also got her an invite for New Brunswick’s provincial basketball team after being selected for the NBIAA all-star team.

Dal women’s basketball head coach Carolyn Savoy connected MacIntyre with volleyball head coach Karen Moore. MacIntyre was encouraged to attend Dal by her older brother, who had just finished playing for the men’s hockey team.

The Saint John, N.B. native burst onto the scene in her rookie season. She was the Dal Rookie of the Year, AUAA Rookie of the Year and an AUAA first team all-star. Dal’s first-ever AUAA women’s volleyball Rookie of the Year helped the Tigers win the AUAA title.

The next season, after competing with the junior national team at the World University Games, MacIntyre continued to improve and become more dominant. She won the AUAA MVP and was a second team CIAU (U SPORTS) all-Canadian. Once again, she helped Dal win the title, winning Dal’s 12th AUAA women’s volleyball championship.

MacIntyre one-upped her incredible 1991-1992 season by winning the AUAA MVP and U SPORTS first team all-Canadian. She capped her Dal career off with an AUAA three-peat and went on to compete at her second World University Games in 1993.

MacIntyre’s athletic career did not stop at Dalhousie. She won a bronze medal with Team Canada at the 1995 Pan Am Games and was a Team Canada alternate in the 1996 Olympics. A Team Canada senior national team member until 1996, MacIntyre would be inducted into the Volleyball Canada Hall of Fame (team) in 2004, the Volleyball New Brunswick Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Saint John Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

After Team Canada, MacIntyre returned to Dal to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree. She was a women’s volleyball assistant coach at Dal in the 1996-97 and 2002-03 seasons. In the latter season, MacIntyre helped coach Dal to another AUAA championship.