TRIO OF LIONS EARN OUA WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL AWARDS
York University Lions women’s volleyball head coach Nick Tran was named the OUA’s coach of the year on Tuesday (Feb. 21), while Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes were both named OUA first-team all-stars for the first time.
Tran, in his third year as the head coach of the team, led the Lions to a sparkling 16-2 mark in the regular season and the top seed in the OUA standings for the playoffs. The Lions finished six points ahead of the rest of the field, winning three more games than every other team, and went a perfect 9-0 on home court. Throughout the regular season the Lions won 51 sets and dropped just 12, the best totals in the OUA.
Under Tran’s guidance the Lions reached a season-high of No. 8 in the CIS national rankings in December thanks to a 9-0 start and finished the regular season at No. 9. They were the only team from the OUA to be nationally ranked at any time this year.
Wilkerson (Brampton, Ont.) and Humana-Paredes (Toronto), both second-year outside hitters, were two of the top players in the OUA in the regular season.
Wilkerson finished as the conference’s scoring leader with an average of 4.29 points per set, becoming the only player this year to average more than 4.0 per set. She was also first in kills per set, with 3.56, and 18th in service aces with 22 on the year.
Humana-Paredes, who started her rookie season last year as the libero but switched to outside hitter this year, was one of the most complete players in the OUA. She excelled on offence and defence, finishing eighth in scoring with 3.56 points per set and fourth in digs with 4.27 per set. She also proved to be one of the top servers in the league with 46 service aces, the second best total in the OUA.
These three Lions will have the opportunity to add to their accolades this weekend when York hosts the OUA Final Four Championships at the Tait McKenzie Centre. The Lions advanced to the semifinals with a 3-0 victory over the RMC Paladins on Saturday afternoon and will face the Toronto Varsity Blues at 5pm on Friday, Feb. 24.
Major Award Winners
Rookie of the Year – Chelsea Briscoe (Ryerson)
Libero of the Year – Meagan Nederveen (McMaster)
Award of Merit – Natalie Gray (Queens’s)
Coach of the Year – Nick Tran (York)
First-Team All-Stars
Natalie Gray (Queen’s)
Brandie Wilkerson (York)
Melissa Humana-Paredes (York)
Karina Krueger-Schwanke (Ottawa)
Rachel Roorda (Brock)
Shannon McRobert (McMaster)
Charlotte Sider (Toronto)
Second-Team All-Stars
Brooke Lloyd (Guelph)
Myriam English (Ottawa)
Erinn Bickle (Guelph)
Becky Billings (Queen’s)
Melissa McCoy (RMC)
Kaila Seguin (Windsor)
Christine Grail (Ottawa)
All-Rookie Team
Chelsea Briscoe (Ryerson)
Lauren Mastroluisi (McMaster)
Lauren Stirling (Brock)
Denise Wooding (Toronto)
Emily Nicholishen (Ryerson)
Katelyn Larson (Guelph)
Taylor Brisebois (McMaster)
