2013-14 Canada West women's volleyball major awards and all-stars announced

Source: Canada West Communications

EDMONTON – Lisa Barclay has claimed Canada West women's volleyball MVP honours, while Leah Shevkenek, Donata Huebert, Julia Pasieka and Lee Carter have also won annual awards.

Barclay is adding another honour to an already impressive resume of achievements. The fourth-year outside hitter of the UBC Thunderbirds has been named the Canada West women's volleyball Most Valuable Player.

A native of Brandon, Man., Barclay is the reigning two-time CIS championship Most Valuable Player and tournament All-Star.

This season, she led the Canada West and the entire nation with 4.26 kills per set and 404.5 total points over 22 matches played. Barclay was also sixth in the Canada West in service aces (0.37 per set). Her offensive prowess was a big reason UBC (18-4) was ranked No. 1 in the CIS for the entire season.

In addition to her two CIS tournament MVP and All-Star awards, Barclay was a First Team All-Canadian and Canada West All-Star last season.

It is the seventh time in nine years a player from UBC has won the Canada West MVP award.

"Lisa has had a tremendous year and been vital to our first-place league finish," said head coach Doug Reimer. "There is absolutely no doubt that her strong attacking keyed our offence most nights. While statistics don't tell the whole story by any means, Lisa's average of almost five points a set is extremely impressive. Not only does that success top the conference in a year that saw some great performances from a number of strong outside hitters, but also stands out as the highest total since the 2006-07 season in Canada West."

In her first season of CIS eligibility right out of William Aberhart High School in Calgary, University of Regina setter Leah Shevkenek made an immediate impact as a starter at the most demanding position on the volleyball court to claim honours as Rookie of the Year.

Shevkenek did not miss a set during the conference schedule, starting all 22 matches for the Cougars and finishing with 860 assists – the most ever by a Canada West player in a single season, breaking the old mark of 842 set by Calgary's Natalie Schwartz back in 2005. The first-year player contributed all over the court, tying for first on the team with 27 service aces and finishing fourth on the Cougars with 168 digs. She also added 35 kills and 32 blocks for the U of R, helping the Cougars finish 9-1 over their last 10 conference matches.

Shevkenek is the first University of Regina player to be named the Canada West Rookie of the Year.

Head coach Melanie Sanford said, "You don't see a great deal of first-year student-athletes that can step in, start immediately, and excel like Leah has, but her a tactical understanding of the game and high-level experience has helped to bridge the gap from the high school and club levels to CIS volleyball," adding, "She has earned the trust of our hitters with the consistent way she delivers the ball and her overall game aside from setting is also very good – she's a good defender, she serves well, and she knows when to take responsibility and make adjustments.

In her second season of playing in Canada, Donata Huebert, a 5-9 student out ofMinden, Germany, is bringing more hardware back to Brandon University as Libero of the Year following another terrific season.

This adds to her already impressive resume. In her one previous season in Canada West in 2010-11 she picked up the same award to go along with the CIS libero of the year honours.

"Donata has been a leader since the day she arrived in Brandon," says Bobcats head coach Lee Carter. "She's done a real good job of teaching our young athletes how to be professional and how to respect the sport. I think the recognition she's getting is well deserved. Nobody trains harder than her. She's the type of athlete that makes everyone around her better."

Huebert set a school record with 35 digs on January 22 against the University of Winnipeg, the most in a four-set Canada West match since 2007. Huebert had 266 digs (3.64 per set) on the season, good for fifth in the conference, but more importantly she helped the Bobcats to a 17-5 regular season record, which also happens to be the best season in the program's nine-year history.

Julia Pasieka of the Mount Royal Cougars has been voted Canada West top student-athlete and CIS nominee for the prestigious Thérèse Quigley Award.

Julia has been a leader on and off the court for the Cougars for the past five seasons. She was second on the team this past year in points (2.94 Pts/Set) and kills (2.20 K/Set). She was also the Cougar's biggest leader in the classroom throughout her time at Mount Royal posting a cumulative GPA of 3.83 over five years, including multiple semesters above a 4.0. She was also Mount Royal's first endorsed applicant for the Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University, and while she was not offered the scholarship, she showed incredible perseverance and modesty through the entire application process.

Mount Royal head coach Sandra Lamb said, "Julia has been in my program for the last five years and I have never met a more driven and passionate young woman."

The Brandon Bobcats' Lee Carter has been voted Coach of the Year following the team's most successful season.

This is the first conference honour for Carter, but not his first coach of the year award. Prior to joining the Bobcats, Carter was named Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Coach of the Year in 2002-03.

Carter led the Bobcats to a 17-5 regular season record, the best mark in the program's nine-year history, which is also the best single-season turn-around in the program's history after going 8-14 last year.

"I'm very happy for Lee. He's put in a lot of hard work, in particular this year, and has found a way to get the most out of his team and delivered great performances through-out the year," says BU Athletic Director Russ Paddock. "His group has worked very hard over the past year to get better and Lee played a big role in the leadership and development of that mind-set to try to be the best."

Carter has been the Bobcats only head coach since the program joined the Canada West conference in 2005. This season, the 'Cats reached #2 in the CIS national rankings on November 26 before dropping to #4 after the holiday break. Brandon went back to #2 on January 14 and stayed there until the end of the season.

AWARDS

MVP: Lisa Barclay, UBC

Rookie of the Year: Leah Shevkenek, Regina

Libero of the Year: Donata Huebert, Brandon

Thérèse Quigley Student-Athlete Award nominee: Julia Pasieka, Mount Royal

Coach of the Year: Lee Carter, Brandon

ALL-STARS (alphabetical by surname)

First Team Second Team
Desiree Ates, Reg Brittany Habing, Man
Lisa Barclay, UBC Katy Klomps, UBCO
Sophie Carpentier, TWU Ozana Nikolic, Wpg
Meg Casault, AB Alicia Perrin, TWU
Donata Huebert, Bran Taylor Pischke, Man
Rosie Schlagintweit, UBC Michelle Sweeting, Reg

All-Rookie Team
Vaovai Aiono, Brandon
Vanessa Cornwall, Trinity Western
Michelle Jakszuk, UBC Okanagan
Janna Ogle, Calgary
Leah Shevkenek, Regina
Mariah Walsh, Alberta

Previous selections / awards by this year's winners...

Lisa Barclay, UBC
2013 CIS Tournament All-Star & MVP
2013 CIS First Team All-Canadian
2013 CW 1st All-Star
2012 CIS Tournament All-Star & MVP

Donata Huebert, Brandon
20111 CW & CIS Libero of the Year

Ozana Nikolic, Winnipeg
2013 CW 2nd
2012 CW 2nd
2012 CW & CIS Rookie of the Year

Alicia Perrin, TWU
2013 CIS 2nd All-Canadian
2013 CW 1st All-Star
2012 CW 1st & CIS 2nd
2011 CW Rookie of the Year
2011 CIS All-Rookie

Award winners are now considered for national accolades, to be handed out by Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) at the 2014 national championship, hosted February 28-March 2 at the University of Regina.

The UBC Thunderbirds host the February 21-22 Canada West Final Four in Vancouver, where three of four teams will qualify for the CIS championship. Host Regina has qualified automatically. Semifinals will take place on Friday night, with medal matches going Saturday at 5:00 & 7:00 p.m. UBC Okanagan will take on UBC in one semifinal, with Manitoba facing Trinity Western in the other.

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, winning 100 CIS national titles over the last 10 seasons. Comprised of 17 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. canadawest.org / canadawest.tv / @cwuaa on Twitter