It is all about embracing the reality and not just the potential.

In sixth grade, Natasha Burns was nearly 6-feet tall. The Canadian national accepted the reality that more inches were in her future but also that it could mean additional growth in athletic opportunities.

The latter is what Burns, now 6-5, considers one of the best things about height.

“It’s the opportunities that have come with it,” the redshirt junior middle said as Hawaii prepared for today’s match against No. 12 Oregon. “I get to be here and playing for Hawaii. It can’t get any better than that.”

It’s been particularly good as of late with Burns making her first all-tournament team following steady performances in last week’s Outrigger Volleyball Challenge. It included a career-high 15 kills against San Diego State, which bettered by two her career-high of 13 set in the NCAA tournament’s first-round loss to Illinois last December.

“We all know the player she can be when she’s the ‘Natasha’ she can be,” said Wahine assistant Angelica Ljungqvist, one of Hawaii’s all-time great middles. “We know the way she ended last season and we were hoping she’d pick it back up this season.

“It’s been taking a bit of time. She showed last weekend how well she can play. You can use your height to your advantage but you still have to be in the right place to use it. She is working hard.”

It hasn’t been easy. Injuries have slowed that progress, including a broken hand as a true freshman which led to a redshirt year.

Then there was a knee brace in 2016 that had neoprene in it, a substance Burns had allergic reactions to in the past. It didn’t affect her until the second day when “my skin was like a rocky road,” she said.

This year’s hurdle was breaking the 7-minute barrier in the mile during August preseason camp, which came on her 21st birthday.

It somewhat signaled a coming of age for Burns, who initially signed with West Virginia but decommitted after an offseason coaching change.

While in 11th grade, Burns contacted the Hawaii coaches, interested in the high level of both the volleyball and marine biology programs. Initially there was no scholarship but, after dual-sport athlete Megan Huff moved to a basketball scholarship, one became available for Burns.

Another coaching change followed her when Dave Shoji retired two years ago, replaced by former Wahine All-American setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos. Burns said their coaching styles are similar as well as different.

“Coach Robyn is a little more tough love but they’re similar in how they teach,” Burns said, who has three starts in seven matches, including the last two. “It’s funny, though, that Coach Robyn will be on the baseline just like Coach Dave was, on a volleyball court watching and coaching. You think, ‘wow, she looks just like Coach Dave.’”

Burns’ growth has been both literal and figurative. Being bullied in grammar school over her height led to shyness, she said, something she overcame in high school when she began enjoying being tall.

“People would say, ‘ohmygod, you’re so tall and I’m like, ‘I know, isn’t it great,’” Burns said. “I started getting confident and now I see it as this is me. I love the opportunity to go out and wear high heels.

“Yeah, I’ll be 7-feet tall, it’s not an issue. I have grown to enjoy it.”

Burns, who leads the Big West in hitting percentage (.434), is on track to graduate in May with a biology degree but said she may return for a final season next fall. She’s unsure of a pro future, saying she’d like to be a nature conservationist along the lines of the late Steve Irwin, perhaps going to Australia to work with kangaroos and on the Great Barrier Reef.

“I have a lot of aspirations,” she said. “But the focus is this season. The best things are still to come.”