Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Four gas stations, a Subway and a school.
Those are the main features of tiny Grassland, Alta. – a hamlet 151 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, along Highway 63 to Fort McMurray.
Just 68 people live there and less than 100 students are in its K-12 school.
Somehow, Mariah Bereziuk was recruited to play Canada West volleyball out of the area, which also includes the nearby unincorporated area of Spruce Valley that her parents call home.
"I played up (an age category) my entire volleyball (career) at home because there wasn't enough girls," explained the MacEwan Griffins outside hitter, who started in the sport at age 12 with Plamondon Volleyball Club (PVC).
Eventually, Team Alberta took notice.
"We were at a (tournament) in Calgary and one of the Team Alberta coaches at the time recommended I go to the ID camp," she said. "I made it as a 15-year-old on the U16 team. I played on that team for two years and also played U17."
Ultimately, that led to her getting recruited by MacEwan head coach Ken Briggs.
Now in her third year with the program (and second of eligibility), Bereziuk will lead the Griffins into weekend action vs. cross-town rival Alberta on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (5 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
Mariah Bereziuk chose volleyball over Ukrainian dancing and hasn't looked back, carving out a key role on the Griffins (Eduardo Perez photo).
Not bad for a girl whose main pursuit in her youth was becoming a Ukrainian dancer … until she met volleyball.
"I ultimately had to make a choice between the two and I love volleyball more," she explained of dancing for nine years before the two pursuits ran simultaneous with one another. "I started Ukrainian dancing because of my Baba. I really enjoy it to this day, it's just not where my heart lay and I had to ultimately make a choice.
"Sometimes I regret it, but where I am now playing at a university level in Canada West, it's obviously a better choice that I made and I'm happy with it in the end."
The Griffins obviously are, too. Bereziuk can hammer a volleyball and jump out of the gym, as one of their most dynamic attackers.
If not for an injury that kept her out of action from November to January, she would be challenging for the team lead in kills.
"It's been a tough year for her," said Briggs. "We just got rolling and then lost her for two months. But she's back. She gives us a real offensive threat."
Heading into the weekend, Bereziuk's second on the Griffins in kills/set with 2.25, trailing only rookie Erica Bolink, whose terrific 2.50 mark has her on pace to shatter Mckenna Stevenson's 2015-16 program rookie record of 1.58.
Having both of them available gives the Griffins plenty of power potential on the outside.
"She's evolving and developing like the rest of our team," said Briggs of Bereziuk. "Her upside is huge. She jumps really well, she hits the ball hard with pace and that's something we're trying to establish to compete at this level."
Bereziuk is one of just six MacEwan players who were around in 2019-20, the last season the team competed in before the pandemic shut down 2020-21 and broke a link in the succession between eras of Griffins players.
So, she's become a veteran overnight – the only player on the roster who headed into 2021-22 with at least one Canada West start under her belt. When the Griffins hosted Thompson Rivers University in February 2020, Bereziuk was inserted into the starting lineup for the injured Lauren Holmes.
"It helped me with my nerves a lot coming into this year because I wasn't nervous to come into the (season)," she said. "I knew what to expect. The nerves were there when I played in the playoffs and I think it really helped calm my nerves coming into this year."
Mariah Bereziuk returned to the Griffins' lineup on Jan. 28 vs. Calgary and made an instant impact (Robert Antoniuk photo).
Injured in mid-November, Bereziuk returned to the court for a Jan. 28-29 series against Calgary and made a huge difference, recording 18 kills in seven sets of work.
"I was sick and tired of not being able to hit," she said. "It's my favourite thing and I enjoy doing it so much, so I was just ready and excited to come back into it."
So, her learning curve is continuing. Briggs noted the next step in her development is to fight through inevitable double and triple blocks that will be coming her way as one of the Griffins' top players.
"For Mariah, the good thing is she knows what she needs to do," said Briggs. "As she gets more reps and confidence within that and to understand as an offensive player in this league, she has to learn how to live with (ups and downs).
"For example, when she gets blocked," he clarified. "That's going to happen. Every good hitter gets blocked. Now her learning curve starts with 'how do I get results against different teams' defences?'
"It's learning when to go, when to use hands, when to roll, tip and use off-speed. Now, that's where the evolution will come because she'll get a lot of attention."
Bereziuk, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce in Human Resources, is one of the leaders of a young Griffins group that has yet to win in 2021-22 but has all the potential in the world to become a Canada West powerhouse in a few years.
"We're a very athletic group of girls," she said. "Our athleticism alone is beyond anything I think our program has seen before. I just think a lot of learning needs to take place to reach our full potential."
And that continues against Alberta this weekend, who are coming in ranked No. 1 in U SPORTS.
"How do we measure? Just continue our development and growth," said Briggs. "Our big word this week was just compete.
"The great thing is two-thirds of the girls have played against the U of A before," he added. "I think the nerves are gone, now it's just the excitement. For us, it's always been 'how do we cut down on our errors and put pressure on them?' "
