MUENSTER — After a successful first season at the University of Saskatchewan, Muenster’s Skyler Varga is playing volleyball at the national and international levels this summer.
The son of Darren and Jewel Varga earned the U of S’s Howard Nixon Trophy Male Rookie of the Year award. Varga competed for the U23 Team Canada June 20-24 at the 2022 Bicentennial Independence Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Canada fell to a Brazil squad in the finals. No matter whether he has played near or far, Varga has had the support of his family, which includes older brothers – Devin and Lyndon – and older sister Jenay.
“I definitely owe a lot of my success to my family, especially my parents,” Varga said. “It obviously sounds cliché, but they really have given me every opportunity imaginable to be involved with volleyball and have given so much of their own personal time and effort into helping me and my siblings succeed in this sport. They’ve been the best supporters that anyone ask for and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Huskies
A 6-foot-6 outside hitter, it did not take Varga long to establish himself as a factor for the U of S Huskies at the U Sports level. Veteran university teammate Dylan Mortensen, who also played on the U23 team, said he was impressed with Varga’s volleyball knowledge coming straight from high school.
“To go along with his physicality, he is a very cerebral player and knows way more about the game than I did at his age,” Mortensen said. “These intangibles had him make an immediate impact on the court and he was a huge contributor to our team's success from day one.”
Varga was named to the Canada West All-Rookie Team. He ranked in top 20 in the conference in kills (173 in 16 matches) and kills per set (2.58) and top 25 in hitting percentage (.205). “Being able to play volleyball at a really high level was an amazing experience and I’m really looking forward to the next couple years in U Sport,” Varga said.
He made some great memories in his first season.
“My first game was obviously really exciting. Collectively as a team, I think we were all a little nervous being it was most guys first game in over two years due to COVID. I specifically remember waiting for the starting lineup introductions and my name being announced over the loudspeakers and then running down our bench and tunnel so that was a really cool moment to experience.
“I also remember my first U Sport kill being the second point of the game. There was a joust at the net that ended up on our side, I transitioned off the net, got set a tempo ball that I hit around the block and into the pot. It was a pretty surreal feeling.”
Growing up, Varga played volleyball in school and with the Muenster Volleyball Club. He also spent time with Saskatoon’s High and Hittable Volleyball Club.
“U Sport was definitely a big adjustment from high school and club,” Varga said. “The workload, speed, and physicality of the game is a pretty big step up especially having to compete against players who are three, four, or maybe even five years older than me, so for that aspect it was slightly challenging, but I caught on relatively fast.”
Team Sask & Canada
This summer Varga is looking forward to representing his province at the Canada Summer Games in Niagara, Ont. The multi-sport event runs Aug. 6-21.
“We’ve been training for the Canada Games for almost five years so countless amounts of effort and time have gone into training so I’m really looking forward to seeing all the hard work pay off,” Varga said. “I think we have a really solid team and if we compete well, we’ll have a really good opportunity to win a medal.”
This is Varga’s third summer with the National Team after two years of training with the Youth National Team. In May, he was in Gatineau, Que.
“[I’m] training with about 30 other athletes who range from 3 to 10 years older than me – with myself being the youngest of the athletes,” Varga said. “We’re all here training for different spots and teams for the National program.”
Varga is eligible for the Junior National Team this summer. The squad will play in the Pan Am Cup in Cuba towards the end of summer.
