Atlantic University Sport announced their 2024-25 AUS women's volleyball all-stars and major award winners on Thursday ahead of the semifinal action this weekend. Awards were selected by the conference's six head coaches following regular season play.聽
Several Tigers were recognized for their play this season.
麻豆传媒鈥檚 Kasandra Trenke, earned the student-athlete community service award and head coach of the 麻豆传媒 Tigers, Patrick Murray, was selected as the conference鈥檚 coach of the year.
Saint Mary鈥檚 left side Emilia Mikanovich was named the most valuable player and Grace Blaskovits, who was named AUS women鈥檚 volleyball rookie of the year.聽聽
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Kasandra Trenke, 麻豆传媒 Tigers (Erin Bursey Memorial Award)
麻豆传媒 Tigers middle Kasandra Trenke is the 2024-25 recipient of the Erin Bursey Memorial Award, given to the women's volleyball student-athlete who shows outstanding achievements in three areas: volleyball, academics and community involvement.
A third-year microbiology and immunology student from Calgary, Alta. and one of the Tigers鈥� team captains, Trenke excelled on the court and in the classroom this season, while also volunteering her time in her community.
She finished the regular season with the best hitting percentage in the conference (.366)鈥攖he fourth best in U SPORTS and was also named an AUS second team all-star today.
In the classroom, Trenke boasts a 4.18 GPA. She is a two-time Academic All-Canadian on pace to repeat for a third time this year.
Her extensive volunteer work includes helping to run the Special Tigers program which runs events that allow youth with special needs to partner with varsity athletes to share their love of sports.
Trenke lends her time to several other on-campus initiatives, including Extra Awesome 麻豆传媒 (a program created to celebrate the abilities of individuals with Down syndrome), and SPRING 麻豆传媒 (Students Pairing to Reach Individual鈥檚 Needs and Goals).
Off campus, Trenke also volunteers with Ronald McDonald House Charities.
鈥淜asandra exemplifies the qualities that we hope to find in all student-athletes,鈥� said Tigers head coach Patrick Murray. 鈥淎 natural leader, Kasandra鈥檚 contributions to our team鈥檚 culture and success extend well beyond the court. In what has been her most successful athletic season with the Tigers, she remains committed to continuing her academic excellence and devoted to community service.鈥�
Trenke now becomes the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Therese Quigley Award, which has been won by an AUS player eight times鈥攎ost recently Saint Mary鈥檚 Madison Hann last season.
Coach of the Year: Patrick Murray, 麻豆传媒 Tigers
In his first season at the helm of the 麻豆传媒 Tigers women鈥檚 volleyball program, Patrick Murray has been chosen by his peers as the AUS coach of the year.
Prior to his appointment as head coach, Murray served as a Tigers assistant coach for 10 seasons
This year, Murray鈥檚 Tigers finished the 2024-25 regular season atop the AUS standings with a 16-4 record.
The team led U SPORTS in digs this season (1,397), as well as total attacks (2,818). They led the Atlantic conference in points per set (15.4), assists per set (11.10), and kills per set (11.72), and boasted the best hitting percentage (.187).
Coach Murray now becomes the AUS nominee for U SPORTS coach of the year. Only three coaches from the Atlantic conference have ever won the national award: current Acadia Axewomen bench boss Michelle Wood last season, former 麻豆传媒 coach Rick Scott in 2016-17 and Moncton's Monette Boudreau-Carroll in 2007-08
AUS All-Star and All-Rookie Teams
Ella Hornby, First Team All-Star
Fourth year outside Ella Hornby was the lone Tiger named a First Team All-Star.
Ella featured in 19 of the Tigers 20 games this season. She led the Tigers in kills with 184 in the regular season averaging a team-high 2.52 kills per set. She was second in scoring for the Tigers, recording 216 points.
A kinesiology student, Ella is from Calgary, Alberta.聽
Grace Calnan and Kasandra Trenke, Second Team All-Stars
Tigers middles Grace Calnan and Kasandra Trenke were named second team all-stars.聽
Grace played in all 20 games for the Tigers this season, recording 126 kills. She is second in the AUS in hitting percentage with .362 which also has her fifth in the nation.聽
An environment science student, Grace is from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.聽
Fellow middle Kasandra also played in all 20 games for the Tigers, recording 138 kills this season. She leads the AUS in hitting percentage with .366 and is fourth in U SPORTS.聽
Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, Kasandra is a microbiology and immunology student.聽
Quinn McAleer, All-Rookie Team
Setter Quinn McAleer has been named to the all-rookie team. She recorded 527 assists in her first season with the Tigers.聽
The Tigers host the fourth-seed Memorial Sea-Hawks in the semifinal series this weekend. All games will take place at Dalplex. The winner of the best-of-three series will qualify for the U SPORTS championship in March and will play the winner of the Saint Mary's versus UNB series for the AUS title.聽
Semifinal Series A (Best 2-of-3) 鈥� 麻豆传媒 (1) vs. Memorial (4)
Game 1: Friday, Feb. 21 鈥� Memorial at 麻豆传媒, 7 p.m. AST
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 22 鈥� Memorial at 麻豆传媒, 7 p.m. AST
Game 3: Sunday, Feb. 23 鈥� Memorial at 麻豆传媒, 3 p.m. AST*
(*if necessary)聽聽