Sports in Brief

Men’s, women’s volleyball OUA honours; squash wins national medals

Caroline Livingston (11) was given the OUA Award of Merit for the 2018-19 season.
Image supplied by: Journal File Photo
Caroline Livingston (11) was given the OUA Award of Merit for the 2018-19 season.

Women’s volleyball earns four OUA awards

When the OUA released its yearly winners and all-stars this week, four members of the women’s volleyball roster made the cut.

Fifth-year Caroline Livingston, of Kewlona, B.C., was awarded the Award of Merit for her commitment off the court. Along with being named a First Team All-Star, the outside hitter worked with local community initiatives such as Martha’s Table, the Queen’s Austim Mentorship Program, and Bell Let’s Talk. She’s also one of this year’s co-chairs on the Varsity Leadership Council (VLC).

In her time with the council, Livingston was nominated as the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy at the 2018 National Philanthropy Day Awards.

Alongside Livingston, fourth-year Sierra Hardy was also given a First Team All-Star honour, putting two Queen’s athletes on the seven-woman roster.

Second Team All-Star honours were awarded to second-year Julia Wiercigroch and all-rookie recipient Arielle Palermo.

The recognition follows an unfortunate end to the team’s season in their OUA quarterfinal against the Western Mustangs last weekend.

Men’s volleyball lands six OUA awards

This year, six Gaels were awarded OUA honours after finishing as the top seed in the OUA East.

First-year Head Coach Gabriel DeGroot was awarded Coach of the Year—a first for men’s volleyball since Brenda Willis in 2006-07. After serving as the team’s Assistant Coach for eight years, DeGroot was put in charge of the program this past spring and led Queen’s to a 15-3 record—they finished just 10-8 in 2017-18.

Queen’s led the OUA in total kills (871), total aces (144), and aces per set (1.97). Creating a strong offense was the key to DeGroot’s team this season. If his players’ performances are any indication, it showed.

Third-year outside hitter Zac Hutcheson was awarded First Team All-Star and the Dale Iwanczko Award of Merit, which hasn’t been given to a Queen’s player since Jake Magolan in 2000-01.

Hutcheson is a volunteer coach with the Pegasus Volleyball Club and a guest coach at two local elementary schools. Alongside his extracurriculars, he was a two-time Dean’s Scholar and finished the season ranked third in the OUA East for kills, ranking him second in the OUA and contributing 30 per cent of Queen’s total kills for this season.

Alongside Hutcheson, second-year Zane Grossinger earned a First Team All-Star, coming off a Rookie of the Year campaign last season. The standout setter ranked second in the OUA with 9.97 assists per set, leading Queen’s roster.

Additionally, fourth-year Dylan Hunt and first-year Adam Bolijkovac earned Second Team All-Star status, and first-year Shane Gabel made the All-Rookie team in the OUA East.

The men’s team will compete for the Forsyth Cup as they host the OUA Final Four in Kingston this coming weekend.

Squash players medal at national championships

Last weekend, three Queen’s athletes travelled to Markham, Ont., to compete in the Canadian University and College Squash Championships from March 1 to 3. The tournament featured the top 34 Canadian varsity squash players.

In the women’s open division, which consisted of eight players, first-year Sydney Maxwell won the championship. Maxwell was named the OUA MVP and Rookie of the Year after the women’s squash team brought home their fifth straight OUA title earlier this winter.

First-years Chris Howard in the men’s A division and Cameron Meakin in the men’s B represented the men’s side.

Howard advanced to the gold medal game, winning three consecutive games to secure an individual gold after dropping his first match. Meakin, in a pool of six players, made it to the final, where he faced the pool’s other undefeated player. Despite losing the match, Meakin came away from the tournament with a silver medal.

The pair of athletes’ strong performances conclude a promising year for the men’s squash team, who brought home OUA silver earlier this season.

Tags

Gabriel DeGroot, Men's Volleyball, Squash, Women's Volleyball

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