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Top 8 Academic All-Canadians announced for 2018-19 season

Andrew Bucholtz
Welcome to Monday Morning Quarterback, a weekly look at all the best U SPORTS stories from the week across Canada West, the OUA, RSEQ and the AUS.
There were a couple of notable accomplishments in U SPORTS women’s basketball this week, with the No. 8 Brock Badgers posting a 84-69 victory over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in their half of the fifth-annual Paint The Meridian Red event (a special community doubleheader at the Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines) and with UBC Thunderbirds’ head coach Deb Huband recording a Canada West-record 338th regular-season victory thanks to UBC’s 100-57 win over the Trinity Western Spartans.
Thank you to our awesome Badgers fans for another great Paint the Meridian Red event. 2 wins for our ball teams tonight, and a huge win having you all come out to cheer them on 🎉 #WeAreBadgers pic.twitter.com/K9uKpYlBP2
— Brock Badgers (@brockbadgers) January 12, 2020
First, the Badgers’ performance Saturday saw them recover after trailing by double digits in the first quarter. They bounced back to lead 17-14 after the first quarter, 38-25 at the half, and 65-46 after the third quarter, and then held on for a 84-69 win. Jessica Morris led the way for Brock with 20 points, while Melissa Tatti added 18 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and four steals, Kristin Gallant had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Sam Keltos had 10 points and six rebounds. And head coach Mike Rao was quite happy with how his team performed in front of the Meridian Centre crowd:
“The experience of playing in this venue, in front of our crowd, there's nothing else like it. It's a great event for the University and the program. It's a great day for Brock basketball and Brock University.”
That win was a nice rebound for the Badgers after a 66-63 loss to the York Lions Wednesday, their first road loss of this campaign. They’re now 10-2 on the season, tied with the No. 5 Ryerson Rams for first in the OUA Central division. Meanwhile, in Canada West, UBC head coach Huband led her program to that aforementioned 100-57 home win over Trinity Western Saturday night and broke former Victoria Vikes coach Kathy Shields’ mark of 337 regular-season conference wins in the process. Huband, currently in her 25th season as UBC’s head coach, said afterwards it was particularly special for her to reach this milestone given Shields’ importance to her coaching career:
🏀 WBB | @UBCWBBall head coach Deb Huband on her @CanadaWest record setting win Saturday night at War Memorial Gym @CanBball @BasketballBC @USPORTSca @alumniubc pic.twitter.com/HmYxKePTGp
— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) January 12, 2020
"It's a tremendous honour. To be following in Kathy Shields' footsteps, she was a mentor of mine and somebody I have tremendous respect for. I think it reflects a tremendous journey, it's been a very long and exciting journey with lots of amazing people."
"It's hard to believe, really. I think the commitment, the loyalty of my coaching staff and players, everybody has contributed. I get to accumulate the wins but it's really on the backs of so many people's contributions."
For UBC, Jessica Hanson led the way in that game with 24 points, while Keylyn Filewich recorded 23 points and 14 rebounds. And the Thunderbirds put Huband in position to set this record Saturday thanks to a 95-58 home win over the Spartans the previous night.
Elsewhere in U SPORTS women’s basketball,the No. 1 Saskatchewan Huskies, the No. 2 Calgary Dinos, the UNB Reds and the UNBC Timberwolves all hosted Shoot for the Cure cancer fundraising nights this weekend. Saskatchewan and Calgary each won their games (the Huskies had two Shoot for the Cure games), while the Reds won both their games and the Timberwolves lost their Shoot for the Cure game against the UFV Cascades.
Brock has been hosting Paint The Meridian Red events over the past five seasons, but the men’s basketball Badgers posted their first win in one Saturday night. They beat the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 75-65 behind 26 points and five rebounds from Godsman Kwakwah. Daniel Caldwell (a career-high 18 points) and Daniel Cayer (12 points, 14 rebounds) were also crucial for Brock.
What a night! Yesterday, #BrockU students, staff and community members flooded the @MeridianCentre_ to cheer on the @BrockBadgers men's and women's basketball teams. For a full recap ⬇️ #WeAreBadgers https://t.co/dtc99iQzPj
— Brock University (@BrockUniversity) January 12, 2020
Meanwhile in Canada West, UBC Thunderbirds’ head coach Kevin Hanson also broke a conference record this week. On Thursday, Hanson recorded his 314th regular season win when the Thunderbirds beat the Trinity Western Spartans 109-102 at home, breaking the Canada West record held by former Alberta Golden Bears coach Don Horwood. Grant Audu, Jadon Cohee and Grant Shephard each put up 22 points for UBC in the win. And Hanson (in his 20th season as UBC’s men’s basketball head coach) had some good comments afterwards:
🏀 MBB | @UBCCoachHanson on his record setting 314th @CanadaWest regular season win Thursday night @CanBball @BasketballBC @USPORTSca pic.twitter.com/cDPvIDFMM2
— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) January 10, 2020
"It's very special. There are a lot of great memories in this gym and a lot of great games. Vern Knopp being 20 years with us...the people that have been here for the whole journey are him, my wife and my daughter so it was very special they were all here tonight."
"This is a hard gig. Winning basketball games is a tough thing, anything can happen. It's been a great ride so far and I want it to continue for many more years. I love every second I'm on this floor coaching."
Elsewhere in U SPORTS men’s basketball, a notable upset came in OUA play Friday night when the No. 9 Laurentian Voyageurs beat the No. 4 Ottawa Gee-Gees 78-65 at home behind 35 points, five rebounds and four assists from Kadre Gray.
The coaching records continued this weekend in women’s hockey, where Howie Draper (coach of the No. 8 Alberta Pandas) posted his 600th career win Friday night with the Pandas’ 3-1 victory over the Mount Royal Cougars. Kennedy Ganser, Madison Willan and Cayle Dillon all scored for Alberta in that one, with Halle Oswald making 10 saves in the win. Anna Purschke scored the Cougars’ lone goal.
Draper has been the Pandas’ head coach since their program’s inception in 1997, so this also served as Alberta’s 600th women’s hockey victory. He’s led them to 13 Canada West championships and eight U SPORTS national championship titles, and has also coached with Hockey Canada, most recently as the head coach of the Canadian Under-18 national team; he won a world championship with that team in 2018 and a silver medal with them at the 2019 world championships. He becomes the first women’s hockey coach to hit 600 wins in the U SPORTS era, and the fourth University of Alberta coach to reach the 600-win plateau, following Laurie Eisler (women’s volleyball; she hit 800 career wins earlier this season), Terry Danyluk (men’s volleyball; he posted a 762-226 career record before moving into a general manager role for that program this season) and Clare Drake (men’s hockey; he posted a 697-296-37 record with the Golden Bears by his 1989 retirement).
COACHING MILESTONE 🚨🚨
— UAlberta Golden Bears & Pandas (@BearsandPandas) January 11, 2020
Congrats to @PandasHockey head coach Howie Draper, who has become the first women’s hockey coach in the @USPORTSca era to win 600 career games! @UACoachDraper now owns a 600-160-11 record in 23 years with the Pandas.
📝:https://t.co/xewP87Amcs pic.twitter.com/PRVYcDPUYn
Also in women’s hockey, the No. 7 McGill Martlets beat the No. 4 Montreal Carabins 3-2 on the road in double overtime Friday. Montreal rebounded with a 4-3 road win against the No. 1 Concordia Stingers Sunday.
There were several notable U SPORTS men’s hockey results this weekend, including No. 7 McGill taking down the Concordia Stingers 3-2 in overtime at home at their sold-out Winter Carnival Game Friday and the No. 9 Ryerson Rams getting by the No. 3 University of Toronto Varsity Blues 4-3 in overtime on the road in their Subway Series game Thursday. McGill’s win, which came in front of a crowd of 1,029, was boosted by two goals (including the game-winner) from Guillaume Gauthier and 56 saves (tied for a career-high) from Louis-Philip Guindon. Ryerson’s victory was boosted by two breakaway goals (including the overtime winner) from defenceman Zach Shankar.
M🏒| WATCH:@ZachShankar13 is the hero tonight after TWO breakaway goals, including the winner here 😳
— TMU Bold (@tmubold) January 10, 2020
#weRrams pic.twitter.com/w5AWdofd41
The No. 9 Alberta Golden Bears posted two impressive road victories this weekend against the No. 2 Brandon Bobcats, winning 25-18, 25-20, 26-28, 20-25, 15-11 Friday and recording a 25-19, 25-21, 26-28, 25-22 victory Saturday. Jackson Kennedy and Jordan Canham each posted 17 kills for the Golden Bears Friday (which marked the Bobcats’ first regular-season loss at home since November 2017), while Canham and George Hoburn each had 13 kills for Alberta Saturday. Canada West all-star Seth Friesen and conference rookie of the year Robin Baghdady both missed both games for Brandon with injury, but Jens Watt (seven kills, eight digs) and Max Brook (six kills) each were key contributors for the Bobcats Friday, while Bryston Keck had five blocks for Brandon Saturday.
BEAR SWEEP!!
— Golden Bears Volleyball (@GoldenBearsVB) January 12, 2020
Huge road sweep for the Bears, who knock off the second-ranked team 3-1 on Saturday!
Middle George Hobern leads the way with 13 kills and 7 block assists, while Max Elgert added another 45 assists.
BOXSCORE: https://t.co/r8tFHcsA50 pic.twitter.com/3wSxRSTRos
The No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans beat the No. 5 Mount Royal Cougars in straight sets (25-20, 25-17, 26-24) at home Friday, but fell in four sets (25-16, 14-25, 26-24, 25-17) in Saturday’s rematch. On Friday, Hilary Howe had 12 kills, five service aces and five digs for Trinity Western, while Dora Komlodi had three aces and 17 assists; Nyadholi Thokbuom responded with eight kills and three aces for Mount Royal. On Saturday, Thokbuom had a game-high nine kills for the Cougars and Chantel Park added five kills and four aces; Howe had seven kills and five digs for the Spartans.
WVB | Spartans fall to second-place @MRUCougars 3-1 (25-16, 14-25, 26-24, 25-17).
— TWU Spartans (@TWUSpartans) January 12, 2020
TWU's record moves to 14-2 on the season.
In men’s volleyball, Canada’s senior men’s national team (featuring numerous U SPORTS alums) is off to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics thanks to a a straight-sets win over Puerto Rico Sunday night to cap off the NORCECA Men’s Tokyo Qualification Tournament in Vancouver. Team captain Gord Perrin (a Thompson Rivers WolfPack alum) delivered the decisive kill:
CANADA 🇨🇦 IS GOING TO #TOKYO2020! Gord Perrin clinches the 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-15) win over Puerto Rico 🇵🇷! Time to celebrate in Vancouver!
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) January 13, 2020
Full #FIVBCOQT coverage: https://t.co/QRohoq3T97#Volleyball #NORCECA @VBallCanada @Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/Xz4IbRICvV
Meanwhile, the Canadian senior women’s team (also featuring plenty of U SPORTS alums) placed third at the NORCECA Women's Volleyball Qualification Tournament Tokyo 2020 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, posting a four-set victory over Mexico in the bronze-medal match. That wasn’t enough to qualify for this year’s Olympics; there was only one berth available in this tournament, and it went to the tournament champions, the hosts. But this was still a win for the women’s team to build on:
Canada 🇨🇦 defeated Mexico 🇲🇽3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-23) in the match for third place at the #NORCECA NORCECA Women's #Tokyo2020 Qualification Tournament#Volleyball #FIVBOQT #Fivb #GoBeyondYourLimits
— NorcecaInfo (@Norceca_Info) January 12, 2020
🔗https://t.co/ygeFmz27qk pic.twitter.com/DAi41SaR46
In men’s hockey, Rogers Hometown Hockey this week saw Ron MacLean and Tara Sloane interview York Lions’ men’s hockey forward Kaleb Dahlgren, a survivor of the Humboldt Broncos’ April 2018 bus crash. Dahlgren spoke to them about his time at York (a connection he found in part thanks to former Lions’ player Mark Cross, a Humboldt assistant killed in that crash who’s now honoured by York with an annual memorial game and a scholarship fund), his history with diabetes, and his work with the annual Dahlgren’s Diabetes game at York to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Association:
Also in men’s hockey, former Alberta Golden Bears’ Luke Philp and Zach Sawchenko faced off in AHL action Saturday, with Philp playing forward for the Stockton Heat (the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate) and Sawchenko in net for the San Jose Barracudas (the San Jose Sharks affiliate). Stockton won that game 2-0 without Philp appearing on that particular scoresheet, but he has been on a good run lately:
#AHLHeat F Luke Philp has 15 goals and 22 points over his last 21 games. He sits tied for 15th in the AHL in goal-scoring overall. #Flames
— Ryan Pike (@RyanNPike) January 11, 2020
In women’s hockey, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported Sunday night that the NHL is going to feature a 3-on-3 scrimmage between top American and Canadian women's hockey players at their All-Star Weekend in St. Louis later this month. The women selected to play there will be national team players who are part of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, which includes a lot of U SPORTS alums. The PWHPA continued its Dream Gap Tour this weekend in Toronto, and that weekend included a game Sunday at the Ryerson Rams’ Mattamy Athletic Centre (the former Maple Leaf Gardens), with Team Daoust (led by McGill Martlets’ alum Mélodie Daoust) posting an 8-0 win over Team Spooner:
Team Spooner vs Team Daoust now at the former Maple Leaf Gardens.
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) January 12, 2020
Warmups under way!
Renata Faast and Marie Phillip-Poulin #PWHPA #ForTheGame pic.twitter.com/CjcXghIiin
In curling, the OK Tire & BKT Tires Continental Cup of Curling presented by Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning and Plumbing was held in London, Ontario this week, featuring Team Canada against Team Europe. Some of the many alums of U SPORTS schools taking part on the Canadian side included all six skips: Kevin Koe (University of Calgary), Brendan Bottcher (University of Alberta), John Epping (Trent University), Chelsea Carey (University of Manitoba), Rachel Homan (University of Ottawa and University of Alberta), and Tracy Fleury (Laurentian University, where she currently works as the manager of accounting and reporting). And while Europe won the trophy, there were some cool moments throughout the event, including an exhibition game between the Western Mustangs’ men’s team and the CCAA Fanshawe Falcons:
M🥌 The Mustangs Men's curling team faced off against the @FanshaweFalcons at the Continental Cup at the @SportsCentreWFD.
— Western Mustangs (@WesternMustangs) January 11, 2020
Thanks again to the organizing committee for inviting us to take part in the exciting opportunity.#WesternMustangs #RunWithUs #WesternU pic.twitter.com/Eel1hwwKXs
Western football coach Greg Marshall also took part in a celebrity game:
The Mustangs were back at the #ContCup2020 last night, but this time it was Mustangs Football Head Coach Greg Marshall taking to sheet D as he participated in the celebrity game.
— Western Mustangs (@WesternMustangs) January 12, 2020
Looking good Coach
📸 courtesy Luke Durda#WesternMustangs #RunWithUs #westernu pic.twitter.com/MZd7V0h9x5
In track and field, there were several big events this weekend, including the Sanderson Classic at Saskatchewan, the Can Am Classic at Windsor, the Jump Start Open at Moncton, the Wolverine Open at the University of Michigan (the Guelph Gryphons and Western Mustangs took part) and the Sherbrooke Invitational at Sherbrooke. The Sanderson Classic saw Pandas’ pole vaulter Rachel Hyink set a school record:
🚨NEW SCHOOL RECORD 🚨
— UAlberta Golden Bears & Pandas (@BearsandPandas) January 11, 2020
Pandas pole vaulter Rachel Hyink has set a new @UATrackies record with a jump of 4.12 metres!
Hyink set the record yesterday at the Sanderson Classic in Saskatoon. Her jump passes the previous record of 4.11 set by Paige Ridout in 2017. pic.twitter.com/LlJvcnpp68
In wrestling, one key event this weekend was the Brock Invitational, with the Lakehead Thunderwolves posting an impressive showing there. Marco Palermo (65kg) and Madison Clayton (63 kg) each placed first in their respective weight classes, and eight other Thunderwolves’ wrestlers finished in the top six in their classes:
The Lakehead Thunderwolves wrestling team had a successful first weekend of back to competition at the Brock Invitational this past Saturday, Jan 11.
— Lakehead Athletics (@LakeheadTWolves) January 12, 2020
Read more - https://t.co/CFsutvNKa0 pic.twitter.com/EyBHHPeZOI
And in men’s basketball, Saskatchewan Huskies’ head coach Barry Rawlyk added an additional title this week: general manager of the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Saskatchewan Rattlers.
"I think the word is starting to get out about how good the product is. Not only the talent level of the players and the entertainment value of the games, but all the things surrounding the game and in the in-game presentation." ~ @SASK_Rattlers GM Barry Rawlyk vi@CBCSaskatoon https://t.co/cmBfcu3PV3
— CEBL (@CEBLeague) January 10, 2020
Andrew has been covering university sports in Canada since 2005 at outlets such as The Queen's Journal, The CIS Blog, and Yahoo Canada, where he also served as the editor of the Canadian football blog 55-Yard Line. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from Queen's University with a major in history, and currently works as a staff writer and editor for Awful Announcing and The Comeback.
Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewBucholtz
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U SPORTS Staff