Get to know Quebec's athletes heading to the Olympic Games in Rio this summer. Here's the second in our series of profiles on our local athletes as they get ready to compete.

The road to the Rio Olympics was a long one for 24-year-old Côte-Saint-Luc native Bianca Farella.

Her journey began in 2006 when she was a Grade 7 student at Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School in Westmount.

"I just knew I always liked team sports, so when a friend ... convinced me to go to rugby tryouts, I [went]," she said.

"I liked it and stuck with it every year after that."

She went on to lead the Dawson Blues to three consecutive provincial titles, then helped the Concordia Stingers to the national championship, beating the then-undefeated Laval Rouge et Or and winning rookie of the year honours in the process.

In her only year at Concordia, Bianca Farella took rookie of the year honours and helped lead the university to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship. (Canadian Interuniversity Sport)

After a single season at Concordia, where she studied behavioural neuroscience, Farella moved to Vancouver to train with the Canadian women's rugby team on a full-time basis.

She started out as a winger but now takes great pride in her playmaking abilities.

"I get a thrill out of setting other people up to score," she explained.

Daybreak sports reporter Kosta Papoulias chats with Cote-St Luc native Bianca Farella on qualifying for the women's Olympic rugby team in Rio, this summer. 2:38

And though she's worked to become a more well-rounded player, Farella is still a natural scorer. She sits second all-time in tries for Canada in the World Rugby Women's Seven Series with 63. She also ranks ninth in the world in scoring with 315 points.

With the Canadian squad finishing consistently in third place over the past few seasons, Farella and her teammates believe know what it takes to improve on their past performances.

"Our expectation is to win gold in the final match. That's our mindset," she said.

The inaugural women's rugby sevens tournament at the Olympics runs from Aug. 6 to 8 at Deodoro Stadium.