GRASSLAND - A journey that started in the gymnasium at Grassland School culminated at an award banquet across the country last week after Mariah Bereziuk was named to the U SPORTS women’s volleyball all-star second team.
Bereziuk, 22, said the honour, which she received at a banquet in Hamilton, Ont. March 13, was unexpected, to say the least — when her coach, Chris Wandler, called to tell her she had been selected, she had to make him repeat the news. Bereziuk had also been named a first team all-star for the U SPORTS Canada West squad — a 14-team league that covers B.C. to Manitoba.
“It was really cool, it was a really cool moment to be a part of,” said Bereziuk. “I had no idea it was coming, so it was a pretty surreal moment to end my career.”
Bereziuk made sure to end her time with the Grant MacEwan Griffins on a high note. While the women’s team lost in the quarterfinals to Thompson River, it was the program’s first trip to the playoffs in four years, and Bereziuk led the way from the left side of the court.
As the outside hitter, Bereziuk gets many of the “out-of-system” balls passed to her, as well as some of the in-system plays.
“My role is to hit the ball, but I also played a big role in passing and defending the back row this year,” said Bereziuk.
Her stats backed up her on-the-court impact. Bereziuk finished second in the conference and third in the country, with 3.95 kills (volleyball equivalent of points) per set. Her 316 kills were good enough for third in both the conference and the country.
Despite the individual success she enjoyed throughout the season, Bereziuk was quick to credit her teammates.
“As a team, we all have people who excel and contribute their part,” said Bereziuk. “We were finally able to put those parts together and excel as a team, and that allowed me to excel as well.”
Her path to the starting spot with the Griffins started over a decade ago, when Bereziuk first took to the court as a Grade 5 student in Grassland. Volleyball was one of the few athletic options students had, and Bereziuk fell in love with it quickly.
“It was a really volleyball-dominant school, they didn’t really play basketball, so I started in Grade 5,” said Bereziuk. “I was Ukrainian dancing at the same time, which was difficult once I started playing club volleyball. I inevitably had to choose between the two.”
Once she made that choice, she didn’t look back. Bereziuk stayed at Grassland for her Grade 10 year, before moving to Boyle School for Grade 11 and half of Grade 12. From there, she moved to a school in St. Albert, where she stayed with a billet family for the last semester of grade school.
From there, Bereziuk moved to Edmonton, where she joined the Griffins. In her first season, Bereziuk said she mostly rode the bench, but she earned a starting role which she would hold onto for the next three seasons.
In a March 13 press release, Wandler said the success Bereziuk displayed in her final season was a result of all the work she had put in behind the scenes. Coming into the 2023-2024 season, the two set out to develop Bereziuk’s overall game, including when she wasn’t playing at the net.
“It comes from a lot of work," said Wandler in the release. "It's her fifth year of playing – with the COVID year (a lost season). She put in a lot of work to get here. I think it's just not a year's breadth of work, it's four to five years.
“Sometimes it just takes athletes that long to show how truly great they are and that’s what she did.”
As for what comes next, Bereziuk said she hopes to move back to the area after she finishes her commerce degree in April.
“I’m hoping to come home and find a job in my field, whether that’s remote or at a local company,” she said. “We’ll see what happens from there.”
