Rookie sensation Raya Surinx fitting in seamlessly for Bisons women’s volleyball

Rookie left side Raya Surinx has been described by some as a generational talent, and when you watch her play, it’s easy to see why. 

A 6’0″ workaholic with a 30-plus inch vertical leap, there’s not much the opposition could do to stop her when she was on her a-game. The Volleyball Manitoba Female Player of the Year a season ago, there were times during high school at JH Bruns that her coach and former university athlete Kris Funk had to keep her out of drills for fear of her injuring herself diving to chase a ball in practice. 

That, in a nutshell describes Surinx’s attitude towards the game. She’s humble, leads by example with her dedication, and does whatever it takes to help her team. 
She’s also quick to deflect credit to others, even after being the Tournament MVP at provincials (a key reason why JH Bruns won their first-ever 4A provincial title last season) and one of the youngest players present at Canada’s U21 national team camp in the summer. 

On top of all of that, she’s brutally honest with herself and is always willing to learn.  

“For grade ten, I was a middle. No coaches thought of putting me there for club, because if you’ve seen me move, I’m not cut out for that,” she laughs with her trademark smile. “If you go back and watch some of my grade ten videos, the proof will be there. I have brutal honesty with myself I guess.”

Luckily Surinx, who started playing volleyball in grade seven, found her home as an outside hitter. Along the way, she added tools to her skillset from club volleyball coaches like Bruce Boroski in grade 11 (Shock Volleyball), and Sydney Purvis (Junior Bisons and current Memorial Seahawks head coach) in grade 12. 

“We did some individuals, and the practices that we did have, they were just super helpful. They were three hours long, which sounds like it can be pretty boring, but it went by so fast, because you’re learning so much. I learned so much technically about my hitting form. [Boroski] changed that for the better, because I was having some shoulder issues before, and then passing,” reflected Surinx. 

“[Purvis], I learned so much from her. There were always improvements to be made to my skill, and she really helped with instilling those and making sure to remind me of things I needed to change. I never really noticed a shift myself. When school volleyball started again, I was like wow, this is really different. There was never one big moment for me when I was like I’m playing so different.”

As a senior, Surinx was part of a Broncos roster that fielded just nine players. Luckily, five of them were seniors and with Funk’s experience and the overall talent present, they made a historic championship run. 

“We had a good group of core players. One of our setters was grade ten, and she played Junior Bisons. Then we had another setter who used to play, so we ran a 6-2,” she says. 

“We had a middle that played club and then an outside, so we only had to have one fill-in. As long as nobody got injured, we were fine, but one of our outsides rolled their ankle, so we had to switch things up a bit. One of our middles had to play outside, and we had to call someone else up to go in the middle. It was kind of hectic for a bit there.”

Nonetheless, JH Bruns got it done, upsetting Vincent Massey in the semi-finals and St. Mary’s in the championship. It was the icing on the cake for Surinx, who’d committed to play for the Bisons the year prior. 

Good fortune worked out for head coach Ken Bentley and the Bisons, as a number of Division 1 schools in the states showed interest in Surinx as a senior, however she’d already committed to the Herd. 

Proving her worth 
The dynamic hitter has already proven her worth as a true freshman for Manitoba. She got set “a lot” during the pre-season, developing quick chemistry with veteran passer Katreena Bentley.

“I’m super proud, honestly because it’s super hard to do, and she does it with such grace and quiet confidence,” noted Katreena of Surinx’s seamless transition into the starting linup. “She’s the least egotistical person that I’ve ever met, even though she’s one of the best volleyball players I’ve ever seen.”

That’s high praise coming from a former All-Rookie member and one of the conference’s best positionally, and things have only gotten better since. 

Surinx is eighth in the conference in kills, with 69 and is sixth in kills per set, with 3.63, adding to a loaded starting lineup that includes fellow NextGen sensation Light Uchechukwu, as well as Ella Gray, Andi Almonte and many other potent hitters. 

“What I’m really happy with is her level of consistency. She’s done a really good job on her attacking, and her serving has been really strong too, her spike serving. Her other parts of her game, I’ve been really happy with,” noted Ken. 

“Her back row play has been really good for a first-year kid, her serve-receive she’s gotten steadily better at. Those have been really positive surprises. I’m really happy with her defence and her ability to make the makeable play when she’s able to, and the kid can hit the ball.”