Fifth-year Dustin Spiring and fourth-year Kevin Negus understand the pressures that come with performing well on a university volleyball team. As veterans on the Bisons roster, they've been able to handle their nerves and anxiety quite well, but that wasn't always the case.

"I still remember the first time I ever stepped on the court and I think I made two back-to-back errors and I got subbed out," Negus says. "I just remember being so nervous and so disappointed in myself."

Spiring has also felt the pressure of performing in a big-time game.

"I played in a couple of big games in high school. We were in the finals in my grade 11 year and the final four for my grade 12 year. You're playing in Investors Group Athletic Centre and there's tons of people watching. It was pretty nerve-wracking.

I know in my grade 11 year I struggled a little bit more with the pressure, because I was setting and there were a lot of grade 12's on the team who had high expectations. When you don't deliver and they kind of get on you for it, it's tough."

For Spiring, having belief in himself was key during times where his anxiety would spike.

"Confidence is everything," he says. "When you have confidence in yourself and people have confidence in you, the game slows down and everything becomes easier."

Being a part of a tight-knit team also helps, and that's been exactly the case for both players during their Bison careers.

"Our teams have always been super close," Negus says. "We've always been such close friends over the years. We do have resources available, but I don't think any of us have ever really needed it, because we've just been able to talk to each other about stuff like this, which has been super helpful."

Spiring has also been able to spread the message of mental health to the younger generation of athletes through his teaching practicum at Dakota High School.

"We had a discussion based on the pressures of being an athlete and what comes with that," he says."

"That was really beneficial for me, because I got to see the high school side of it again, after having been removed from it for a while. It was also a really cool opportunity for me to spread my experiences and try to understand it for their perspective."

This Friday's home games will also provide an opportunity to continue the subject of mental health and performance in sport as part of Bell Let's Talk Day. There will be seven different organizational booths set up on the second-floor concourse of IGAC to help answer any questions that athletes, parents or supporters may have.

"You just have to kind of build that confidence as you go," Spiring says of managing anxiety as you get older. "I don't know too many guys who come into their first year and are really successful and don't get nervous at all or have no bad games. As you get more comfortable you realize, you know what, it's just one point, I'll get the next one."