Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – He doesn't even have to get out a calculator.
In fact, he volunteers the information.
Mark Alexander has had exactly 51 different teammates since he first joined the MacEwan Griffins men's volleyball team in 2016.
"It shows a couple of things – obviously that I've been here so long, but also that I've gotten to meet a lot of people," said the veteran middle blocker who is one of two Griffins – joining Tyler Jodoin – playing their final regular season home games this weekend as MacEwan hosts Calgary on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (6:30 p.m., Senior Night, both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
"You get to really meet people from all different walks of life, learn things from them and from different coaching staffs," added Alexander. "I've had a lot of assistant coaches, alongside Pops. You just really learn a lot of stuff.
"I've met a ton of people and have been able to build my personality and character with who I am over all these years. I definitely feel like I've matured a lot over the transition into 'gramps' on the team."
That is one of his nicknames now, although he's been given several over the years by different eras of teammates.
"It's interesting being in this position as there was a 'grandpa' on the team in my first year," said Alexander. "When I was 18, Ryan McDonald was 27. He was nine years older than me.
"Six years later, I'm in my final year of volleyball and I'm that guy."
Amazingly, that actually puts only one degree of separation between Alexander and the Griffins team that captured the 2009 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association championship 13 years ago – a magical 2008-09 campaign that was McDonald's rookie season.
So, Alexander is a key link in the circle of life continuing with the MacEwan men's volleyball program. And for head coach Brad Poplawski, he is exactly what a Griffin should be.
Although his role has shrunk in his final season with rookie middles Carsten Bergeron and Jonah Karsten taking over the starting spots, Alexander has remained the same upbeat, team-first player.
"Personally, he'd probably want to be playing more and I get that," said Poplawski. "But you'd never know it by his attitude or by his demeanor. He comes to every practice to get better. In game, he's always cheering on his teammates.
"That's what, in my imagination, I imagine a Griffins volleyball player to be – work as hard as they can, but if their number doesn't get called, that doesn't change anything about them. They're still going to work, maybe even harder, and they're going to be the ultimate team guy and supporter."
Mark Alexander unleashes a serve against UFV during a preseason tournament (UFV Athletics photo).
Alexander, who will graduate this spring with a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology major, Sociology minor), is not without some moments in the sun, though. In 2019-20 when he played in 18 of MacEwan's 22 matches, his overall hitting percentage (.321) broke the program record for the best-ever mark by a Griffin in a Canada West season.
Also, that season produced Alexander's favourite memory. The Griffins went into the University of Saskatchewan's PAC gym on Jan. 4, 2019 and swept the Huskies 3-0 – the only win MacEwan has over them in 12 meetings since 2014.
The 6-foot-7 middle produced 10 kills that night in the best game of his career.
"That was one of my goals coming into Canada West," said Alexander. "I wanted to get double digit kills in a match and I was able to get 10 kills as a middle. That was definitely one of my career-high moments that I was pretty happy about."
Poplawski has been wowed by the progress Alexander has made over the years since winning a provincial 4A high school championship with Jasper Place the year before coming to MacEwan.
"He was a big guy who stood out in club, but we weren't sure what his upside would be," he said. "It's so awesome to see how much he developed in his years with our program.
"He's the ultimate coachable guy. He has a team-first mentality. If we told him 'you need to work out this many days' he'd probably add an extra one. Everything we asked he did and more and this program is better for having had him in it. That just sums Mark up.
"It's just really awesome to see him become a man in our program," he added. "We're going to miss him and I'm going to miss him, personally. He's just been such a great guy."
Mark Alexander puts away one of his 10 kills against Saskatchewan on Jan. 4, 2019 - the most memorable game of his career as the Griffins swept the Huskies 3-0 (Getmyphoto.ca).
While this will be Alexander's home farewell, he and the Griffins have a chance to make history this weekend against the Dinos. If they can win at least one of the two matches, they will secure the first Canada West playoff berth in program history.
Entering the weekend, the Griffins (1-15) are tied with UFV (1-15) for the final playoff spot, but the Cascades hold the tiebreaker based on a better sets won-sets lost ratio.
So, somehow MacEwan must beat Calgary (11-5), who are coming in red hot off a weekend sweep over former U SPORTS No. 3 Alberta (13-3) and are now ranked seventh in the country themselves.
"Since we've been U SPORTS, we've had some tough years, that's not a secret," said Poplawski. "But I've always said to our coaches: I hope we're playing games that matter because that means we've taken care of business during the year. Obviously, this year's a little unique, but this weekend absolutely matters. Too often our graduating player night has been 'ah, we're out of the mix' and it's just a nice send-off.
"This weekend, it's a monumental task in front of us, but if you're a competitor and an athlete, we don't know what the answers are, but the question's right there: can you get it done and pull off a win? It's a huge task. It's a team we've never beaten. We're 0-4 against them this year, so obviously everything's stacked against us, but as a competitor, you know what the objective is.
"If there was ever a game to absolutely empty the tank, it's this one because we could do something that's never been done in our program's history."
