The No. 4 nationally ranked Bisons women’s volleyball team has plenty of household names.
Notably, setter Katreena Bentley and left side Raya Surinx are leading the nation in assists, and kills, respectively. But as anyone who’s seen the Herd knows, there’s tons of other playmakers who’ve been instrumental in leading the Bisons to 12 straight wins and a 14-2 record.
One of Manitoba’s many standouts is 6’1″ third-year middle Brenna Bedosky, who’s put up career numbers in hitting percentage (.442) and kills per set (2.06). The former of those categories leads the team, and with just 23 errors on the year, Bedosky has been a reliable presence for her setter all season long.
Take last Friday against previously undefeated Trinity Western for example, where Bedosky hit .714 with 11 kills.
It was the second time this year that she’s hit over .700 and she didn’t record an error in either contest against TWU, combining for 18 kills, seven digs, six assisted blocks and a solo as the Herd swept the Spartans for the first time in 14 years, sitting in second place in CanWest, just one win behind UBC, who they face this weekend.
“Things have slowed down. I can see better,” admits the calm and collected standout.
“I know if there’s two people blocking me at the same time, I can go okay, they’re far back on defence and I’m going to tip this into the pot, or if the set is low I’m able to adjust, bring it up and over and push it into a deep corner.”
Bedosky’s vision for the game is credit to the work she puts in behind the scenes.
She spends an average of 11 hours a week watching film on Manitoba’s opponents, and in games when she doesn’t have the ball, you can hear her yelling out to her teammates – like Surinx – where to place an attack based on where the opposition is positioned.
“I am a film junkie through and through. I think that honestly has helped me a lot. Other people call me actually psychotic. If they did as much film as me, people would probably lose their minds. I find it fun though. That is the best part of my day, when I get to watch film of other teams and just watch it because I love this sport so much,” she admits.
“I think it started helping last year. As soon as [head coach] Ken [Bentley] got the program that we use to watch film, I was on it every single day. I can confidently look at Raya and say hey, they’re going to play deep on you, what I would recommend is tipping here, if the ball goes back over, they’re going to come up for defence thinking you’re going to tip again, hit it deep.”
As Bedosky mentioned, she embraces development daily, because she cares so deeply about her sport. She’s come a long way in a short amount of time and doesn’t rest on what got her to the dance.
For context’s sake, Bedosky was a talented multi-sport athlete growing up, including ringette. She didn’t start her volleyball career until high school, and it’s not lost on her the opportunities that have from her diligent work ethic.
“It’s really weird to think about, and it’s really cool to think about. I picked this up as a 15-year-old, and everything just started happening so fast. I made varsity in grade 11, and then we won provincials, and then I was on this team and that team,” she says.
“All of a sudden as an 18-year-old I was selected to be on the junior national team, and everything started happening so fast. I was working here for Bison Sports when I was in high school just rolling balls and working for promotions, and looking at that and being like maybe I can be there one day. In high school I never once considered what’s happening past club.”
With the CJS Olympiens in high school, Bedosky was named a SCAC, MHSAA, and graduating all-star. The Olympiens also won back-to-back SCAC varsity titles in 2018–19 and 2019–20 and went the distance in 2018–19 with a provincial AAAA varsity title.
Her high school success was married by the Junior Bisons program, where the groundwork for her attitude and efforts were formed.
“It formed who I was. I think that’s such a good basis for kids growing up. A lot of the fundamentals that they offer, how we do one thing is how we do everything,” she noted in an interview for gobisons.ca last year.
“That’s down to literally how you put your bags on the sidelines before you even go practice. We are neat, we are respectful, I am on time.”
Fast forward to present day, where Bedosky’s prep in film, on the court and in all other avenues continues to shine through.
The well-spoken middle is prepared when her name is called. In the third set against TWU last Friday in a 1-1 game, she was prepared to smash home four kills, just like she’s prepared in her day to day life, which includes getting up at 4:30 am on certain days during the week.
“I try to stack my Tuesdays and Thursdays. That way I’m able to work on Mondays and Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays. Mondays and Wednesdays I wake up at about 4:30, because then I have half an hour to get ready,” she says nonchalantly.
“I leave at 5 am. I’ve done this for the last four years, and I only realized this year that I need to get to my job at 6, not have the building open by 6. My boss actually sat down with me, and said ‘do you open the doors at 6 o’clock?’ I said yeah, isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?’ She goes ‘no, Brenna, they’re open by 6:30.’ I’ve been getting there at 5:30 the past four years for no reason. I stay doing it, because I’m in that habit now.
Mondays and Wednesdays I wake up at 4:30 pm, sometimes 5 pm. I leave my house by 5 pm, get here for about 5:30 and then I’m opening the building because I know there are some people like me, who want to be able to start their day early. If I can help even a few people out, it is what it is.”