Women’s Volleyball News

U SPORTS is proud to announce the eight nominees for the 2019 Lieutenant Governor Athletic Awards Presented by Makadiff SPORTS celebrating the U SPORTS Athletes of the Year for the 2018-19 season.

The 2019 nominees for the Doug Mitchell Trophy presented to the U SPORTS Male Athlete of the Year are football players Adam Sinagra from the Calgary Dinos and Mathieu Betts of the Laval Rouge et Or, Guelph Gryphons soccer player Jace Kotsopoulos, and UNB Reds hockey player Christopher Clapperton.

On the women’s side, the finalists for the Jim Thompson Trophy presented to the U SPORTS Female Athlete of the Year are volleyball players Kiera Van Ryk of the UBC Thunderbirds, Theanna Vernon of the Ryerson Rams and Courtney Baker of the Dalhousie Tigers, and Laval Rouge et Or basketball player Sarah-Jane Marois.

Celebrating their 27th year in 2019, the awards are being relaunched and championed once again by His Honour Doug Mitchell and Her Honour, the Honourable Lois Mitchell, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

This year’s event will take place in Calgary on May 1 and 2, where the eight finalists chosen from 56 U SPORTS universities and four conferences from across the nation will once again vie for the top prize. One male and female nominee are chosen to represent Canada West (CW), Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) and Atlantic University Sport (AUS).

The athletes will have the opportunity to participate in a new leadership summit, a formal media conference held at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (May 1 - 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT) and the official awards ceremony at the historic McDougall Centre (May 2 - 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT). All finalists will return home with a commemorative durilium ring from Baron, the Exclusive Provider of championship rings and recognition jewelry of U SPORTS.

The winners will be determined by a combined vote of the Canadian Athletic Foundation – a not-for-profit board chaired by His Honour Doug Mitchell – and the public on USPORTS.ca.

Click here to view the All-Time Award Nominees and Winners

Below are profiles on each of the eight finalists.