TWU's Dayna Jansen Van Doorn named Canada West All-Star
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Canada West Universities
Athletic Association
2008-09 Media Release
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
TWU's Dayna Jansen Van Doorn named Canada West All-Star
EDMONTON - Canada West announces the 2009 women's volleyball individual major award winners and All-Stars, as selected by head coaches across the conference.
Included in the announcement was the selection of TWU's Dayna Jansen Van Doorn to the Canada West first all-Star team.
"I am excited to see the hard work and commitment that Dayna has put into her development and the development of Spartan Volleyball be recognized by the league," commented TWU head coach Ryan Hofer. "Not only is she an outstanding volleyball player but she is a great teammate and leader on this team, and I am looking forward to her future impact on the sport of volleyball in Canada."
The 2009 women's volleyball MVP is Holly Harper of the Calgary Dinos. Harper, in her final year of CIS eligibility and a five-year standout for the Dinos, helped Calgary to a second-place finish in 2009, at 16-4, and through the semifinals last weekend to qualify for this weekend's Final Four event, beginning Thursday night in Edmonton.
The 22-year-old right side player, from Lumsden, SK, was second in kills, with 295 in conference play, a 3.60 per set average. A standout power hitter, Harper was also second with 4.15 points/set for Calgary. In 2008, Harper was named to the CIS All- Tournament team as the Dinos won a bronze medal.
Harper's journey to the MVP award has been a tough, after injuring her knee in December, causing her to miss the second half of the season and playing sparingly in 2006-07 as she recovered fully. In 2004-05, as a freshman, Harper was a member of the Dinos' Canada West title team that was undefeated through the conference championship and ranked No. 1 all season before taking a bronze medal at Nationals.
"Holly is possibly the most explosive player in CIS volleyball, playing big and aggressively, despite being 5'9", noted Calgary head coach Jesse Knight. "She also does her job getting crucial positive block touches, slowing down each opponent's primary power hitter. The most inspiring part of Holly's performance this season, however, is all that she has overcome despite a devastating ACL, MCL and meniscus injury that took the better part of two seasons of her career. Her training and dedication to recovering from knee surgery paid off this year, when she finally got to show how dominant she can be at this level."
After fitting in just fine with a veteran squad, Alberta freshman sensation Kelci French is the Rookie of the Year. The six-foot-tall, 19-year-old right side hitter ranked 10th in Canada West kills, with a 2.86 per-set average, helping Alberta to a 16-4 record, tops in Canada West and host of this week's Final Four. Where French really stood out against the opposition was on serve, where she racked up 31 aces and a 0.43 average, second in the conference. A member of Canada's Junior Team in 2008, the Native Studies student placed sixth overall in points, with 3.52 per set.
There was top praise from U of A coach Laurie Eisler: "Kelci has met every challenge that she has faced this year with incredible poise and confidence. She is a very well-rounded player and contributes to our team in every phase of the game. Her passion for the game is unprecedented and she is going to be a very exciting player to watch in the years to come as she continues to develop her game."
Claire Hanna has been named the Libero of the Year in just her second season at the position. The third-year Calgary product improved her digs per game from 3.09 to 3.82 this season and led the conference in that category this season. At a lofty six-feet-tall, she helped anchor UBC's leading team defence, holding opponents to a .117 hitting percentage.
"Claire's career at UBC is a case-study in persistence. Despite not dressing for 2½ years Claire continued to train and worked at several positions," said T-Birds head coach Doug Reimer. "Last year she made the switch to libero and started for the entire season. This year she has led the T Birds in passing and defence, topping the Canada West stats for digs."
Hanna's teammate, Katie Tyzuk, has been recognized as the league's outstanding student-athlete, making her eligible for the CIS Thérèse Quigley Award, to be presented during Nationals, Feb. 26-28 in Fredericton.
Tyzuk has taken over the role of setter for UBC after the departure of CW MVP Carla Bradstock and has helped direct a T-Birds offence that ranks fourth in the conference in kills with an average of 12.73 per game. She ranked sixth in the conference in assists (9.55 per contest) and was one of only three T-Birds to play in all 73 regular sets for UBC this season. Prior to attending UBC, Katie spent two years with the Junior National team, where she competed in various NORCECA events.
"Katie has done a wonderful job becoming the team's starting setter this season and really grew into the role as the season progressed," said Coach Reimer. "She is an extremely smart player that brings a calm confidence to the floor and continues to do great things off the court outside of the game of volleyball."
For the seventh time her career, long-time Alberta head coach Laurie Eisler has been chosen Coach of the Year by her peers. Since receiving her first such award, with Saskatchewan in 1990, Eisler has spent 16 years with the Pandas, 14 as the team's top boss. She has won CIS Coach of the Year three times - 1995, 2003 and 2004.
With a 16-4 conference mark in 2008-09, Alberta claimed first place and remained near the top of the CIS rankings from start to finish. Eisler and the Pandas hope to be one of three teams from this weekend's Final Four at the U of A to qualify for Nationals, Feb. 26-28 at UNB. Eisler's career conference record with Alberta is 237-85 (.736) and in playoff she is 60-23 (.723), taking the Pandas to six CIS banners and nine Canada West crowns.
Katie Spriggs, Associate Athletic Director for the University of Alberta, commented on Eisler's latest award: "Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics, and our volleyball student-athletes most importantly, are very fortunate to have such high quality, dedicated professional coaches to lead our programs. Laurie's selection by her peers is further indication of how highly regarded she is in the volleyball and coaching communities."
Following is a breakdown of all individual award winners and All-Stars:
Awards
MVP: Holly Harper, Calgary
Rookie of the Year: Kelci French, Alberta
Libero of the Year: Claire Hanna, UBC
Thérèse Quigley Award nominee: Katie Tyzuk, UBC
Coach of the Year: Laurie Eisler, Alberta
All-Stars
First Team Second Team
Holly Harper, Calgary Samantha Loewen, Manitoba
Jocelyn Blair, Alberta Lauren Perry, Calgary
Daryll Roper, Alberta Jen Hinze, UBC
Dayna Jansen Van Doorn, TWU Liz Cordonier, UBC
Marisa Field, UBC Ashley Creighton, Brandon
Sarah Morrissette, Manitoba Teagan Hunter, Brandon
Major award winners will automatically become finalists for national awards, to be handed out by Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) as the University of New Brunswick hosts Nationals in Fredericton for a second straight year, Feb. 26-28.
This weekend the Final Four takes place at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, with the host Pandas opening the event against the Trinity Western Spartans in the semifinals on Thursday, followed by the UBC Thunderbirds against the Calgary Dinos in another semifinal. The bronze and gold medal matches take place on Saturday afternoon, with the event's top three finishers earning the right to travel to UNB for Nationals.
Please direct questions to the Canada West office: sportsinfo@canadawest.org, or contact Canada West women's volleyball schools. Contact information for all conference schools can be found at: the www.canadawest.org Members page.
David Bandla
Canada West Communications
www.canadawest.org
Last Updated: 2009-02-18
Email: ssstew@twu.ca