• Member of the Golden Bears volleyball team, winning the WCIAA championship in 1965.
• Coached the Pandas and Golden Bears volleyball teams, most notably as assistant coach with the Pandas during their six consecutive CIAU titles in the 90s.
• Coached the Dalhousie and Ottawa women's volleyball teams and the UBC men's volleyball team in the CIAU.
• Coached a number of national women's teams, including Canada, Switzerland, Australia, and Sweden.
• Earned the moniker "Dr. Volleyball" for developing technical manuals and serving as the high-performance director for both the men's and the women's Canadian national teams.

This Sports Wall of Fame inductee is generally known as 'Dr. Sawula" but for many he is called Dr. Volleyball" for he has been called upon regularly to diagnose and prescribe treatment for volleyball programs across this country and around the world.

Lorne attended Bonnie Doon Composite High School where he starred in volleyball, football and track & field. He entered the University of Alberta in 1964 and won a spot on the Golden Bear volleyball team, a berth that he held until 1969. During these years as a competitor, the Bears won the WCIAA championship in 1965 and were silver medalists in 1967 and 1968. His excellent play won him a spot on Alberta’s Canada Games team in 1967. This exposure to national competition whetted his appetite for the world of coaching and Ed Zemrau gave life to this ambition by naming Lorne as the coach of the 1967-1968 Bearcats volleyball team. After a brief time away from the University of Alberta, Lorne returned to coach the Golden Bears for the 1971 to 1973 seasons.

For the next two decades, Dr. Sawula traveled Canada from coast to coast, as well as to many parts of the world, but was lured back to the University of Alberta, where he provided coaching support to the Pandas during the 1996-1997 season, the 1998-1999 season, and the 1999-2002 seasons. Lorne was their interim head coach in 1999-2000 when the Pandas won their sixth consecutive National Championship. Assuming double duty in 1998-1999, Lorne coached the Junior Pandas to the bronze medal in the Junior National championships - a remarkable year for him.

While the University of Alberta benefited from Dr. Sawula’s talents as a coach, other Canadian universities gained as well. Lorne served as an assistant swim coach for the University of Windsor Lancers in 1969-1970 and he coached the Dalhousie Tigerettes volleyball team from 1973 to 1975, a stint that produced a Provincial and Maritime "AA" championship in 1975. Dr. Sawula was offered a coaching position at UBC in 1975-77 and took the Thunderbirds (Men s team) to the CIAU championship in 1975-1976 and a silver medal in 1976-1977.

For the next 25 years, Lorne was called upon to serve a wide range of national and international roles in the world of volleyball. He was named as Technical Director of the Canadian Volleyball Association (CVA) from 1977 to 1982 (during most of this period he also coached the University of Ottawa GeeGees Women s volleyball team). During his time as Technical Director, Lorne wrote and published Levels I — IV of Volleyball Canada s first Technical Manuals. By 1988, Dr. Sawula was the High Performance Director for both Men s and Women s national teams and he was invited by the International Volleyball Association (FIVB) to serve on a number of international committees and commissions. Lorne filled these positions from 1978 to 1994. The siren call of Canada and other countries lured Lorne to the challenge of coaching national women’s teams: the Canadians (1982-1988 and 2001 to the present); the Swiss (1990-1993) who won a FISU bronze medal in 1983; the Australians (1994) and the Swedes (1997 — 1999). The records of few volleyball coaches can approach “Dr. Volleyball’s” numerous appearances at international competitions Volleyball World championships (4); FISU Games (7); Olympic Games (1); Pan American Games (2); Pan American Cup (2); Canada Cup (4) and the Norceca championships (4). An outstanding record of accomplishment!!

Today Dr. Sawula continues to serve Canada’s volleyball communities as a Level IV Canadian Certified Coach of Canada’s National Women’s team and as a Level III FIVB Coach and Instructor who is in demand around the world. Currently he is planning new ways and developing new strategies to enhance the quality of volleyball programs in Canada. Exactly as would be expected of “Dr. Volleyball”.