Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Earlier this month, he became just the 24th player in Canada West men's volleyball history to reach 1,000 career kills.
On Tuesday, Max Vriend added another notch to his resume, finally being recognized as an all-star after his inclusion on the 2019-20 Canada West second team.
It's the first time a Griffins men's volleyball player has been named a Canada West all-star and third time for a member of the program to receive recognition from the conference, following Vriend's inclusion on the Canada West all-rookie team in 2015-16 and Ryan Zachary in 2017-18.
"I'm extremely excited for Max for this well-deserved honour," said Griffins head coach Brad Poplawski. "I think this caps off an extremely successful year for him individually and I could not be prouder of him.
"Reflecting on his five years and how far he's come as an athlete and as a man is extremely rewarding to see. He really worked hard to make the move from middle to right side and for him to lead the Canada West in kills, kills/set and to be recognized as a Canada West all-star is a tremendous honour for him and the program after a tremendous career."
Vriend topped all others across the conference in kills (317) and kills per set (4.17), establishing program records for both marks.
As impressive as any of his stats was the fact he accounted for 41.7 per cent of MacEwan's total offensive production – by far the highest among any player in Canada West.
He finishes his MacEwan career with 1,037 kills, 1311.0 points and 327 blocks, all tops in program history. When he joined the elite group of players who've reached 1,000 kills for their careers on Feb. 8 in the David Atkinson Gym, it was a highlight he and the team will long remember.
"Coming into the year, he had to have a really big season to get to where he could get to," said Poplawski. "I don't want to say it seemed far-fetched, but he had to do stuff that hadn't been done here before.
"When you think Max, in his first three years, was predominantly a middle, I think that makes the accomplishment a little bit more special," he added.
Tuesday's all-star nod is the third time Vriend has been recognized by Canada West or U SPORTS. In 2015-16, he also made the then-CIS all-rookie team.
"You want a team of Max Vriends – a guy that grinds and works that hard," said Poplawski. "I'm really happy for him, really proud of him."
Vriend joins fellow outside hitters Mac McNicol of Calgary, Michael Dowhaniuk of UBC, Trent Mounter of Mount Royal University on the second team, along with middles Pearce Eshenko of Trinity Western and Daulton Sinoski of Saskatchewan, and setter Reece Dixon of Saskatchewan.
Eric Loeppky and Derek Epp of Trinity Western, Jackson Kennedy and Max Elgert of Alberta, Elliott Viles of Brandon, Matthew Neaves of UBC, and Daniel Thiessen of Winnipeg make up the first team all-stars.
