OUA NAMES MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ALL-STARS AND AWARD WINNERS

HAMILTON, Ont. – In a season which saw the Queen’s Golden Gaels (18-2) reach the top of the standings, there is no better university volleyball player to be named the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Player of the Year and first-team all-star, than the offensive strategist of the team Devon Miller (Barrie, Ontario). The fourth year setter finished the season with 848 assists which was a dominant force in both the OUA and Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS), bettering his closest competitor by 112 assists in the country. Miller’s skills and leadership led the Queen’s Golden Gaels into the OUA Men’s Volleyball Championship which gets underway tomorrow, February 20th, as Queen’s plays host to the McMaster Marauders in game one in the best of three. Miller sat in seventh place in the OUA with 24 service aces on the season, and was the backbone of his Golden Gaels playing 73 games this season.

McMaster Marauder’s (15-5) Shawn Bench (St.Catharines) earns the honours of OUA Rookie of the Year in 2007. The six-foot-eight middle made an immediate impact on the Marauders team. Bench sat third on his team in average points per game with 2.78, and showed a great deal of poise and accuracy for a first you player, as he finished the season second in the OUA in kill percentage (.559) with 84 kills on the year.

Fourth year, kinesiology and health science student for the York Lions (14-6), Rob Dyba (Newmarket, Ontario) has been a defense force in the league, and has earned the Libero of the Year honours. Dyba finished the season with 43 assists and 104 digs which ranked him twelfth in the league.

Bowie Cheung (Mississauga, Ontario) of the Toronto Varsity Blues (9-11) has been honoured with the prestigious Dale Iwanoczko award presented to the player who excels in the areas for academics, athletics and community involvement. The fourth year libero has been a vital member of the Varsity Blues team finishing the season with 158 digs. Cheung has spent the past two summers at Bloorview MacMillian Children’s Centre working with rehabilitation engineering, and has spent a year volunteering part time at the Lyndhurst Rehabilitation Centre working on a device for the improvement of balance in recovering parapalegics. He is currently taking classes in mathematics and systems theory and is a M.A.Sc. candidate at the University of Toronto.

Joining Miller on the first-team all-stars is two time OUA Most Valuable Player Ryan Vandenburg (Wooler, Ontario). Vandenburg finished the season second in the OUA in points per game (5.36), had 311 kills on the season and finished the season first in the OUA in services aces with 35 for the Ryerson Rams (16-4). The Toronto Varsity Blues boast the CIS points per game leader in Brendan Peel (Whitby, Ontario, 5.42). Peel also has a CIS leading number of kills on the season with 342, 31 kills more than first-team all star Vandenburg. York Lion’s Ryan Anderson (Manitoulin Island, Ontario) makes his fourth appearance on the all-star list finishing the season with 266 kills which is good enough for fourth spot in the OUA. The first-team is exemplified by some of the best power hitters in the country. Sitting third in the OUA in kills behind fellow first-team all-stars is Laurier Golden Hawk (8-12) JP Wikerd (Kitchener, Ontario) who finished the season with 272. Daniel Smedley (Woodbridge, Ontario) has lead the McMaster Marauders in all facets of the game this season, and has been awarded with his second consecutive first-team all-star nod. Rounding out the first-team is Queen’s Jeff DeMeza (Calgary, Alberta) who led his team in scoring with266 points on the season. DeMeza also contributed 21 blocks and 15 service aces for the OUA leading Golden Gaels.

Coach of the Year honours go to Queen’s Golden Gaels Brenda Willis who has coached the Gaels to an 18-2 season and a No. 7 ranking in the CIS. As a five time OUA Coach of the Year, Willis is in her 20th campaign with the Gaels and her 33rd year of coaching.

ALL-STARS AND MAJOR AWARD WINNERS

FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS
Devon Miller- Queen’s
Ryan Vandenburg- Ryerson
Brendan Peel- Toronto
Ryan Anderson- York
Daniel Smedley- McMaster
Jeff DeMeza- Queen’s
JP Wikerd- Laurier

SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
James Mackay- Toronto
Paul Podstawka- York
Josh Chisholm- Western
Andrew Hinchey- Western
Luke Lichty- Queen’s
Sean Panchal- McMaster
Dan McCrae- Queen’s

ROOKIE TEAM
Shawn Bench- McMaster
Dave Binder- Windsor
Reid Halpenny- Western
Cameron Bartlett- Ryerson
Jeremy Groenveld- McMaster
Chris McLaughlin- Ryerson
Colin Dole-Toronto

OUA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Devon Miller- Queen’s

OUA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Shawn Bench- McMaster

OUA LIBERO OF THE YEAR
Rob Dyba- York

DALE IWANOCZKO AWARD
Bowie Cheung- Toronto

COACH OF THE YEAR
Brenda Willis- Queen’s

- OUA -

Michelle Church
Communications & Media Relations Coordinator
Ontario University Athletics

Tel: (905) 540-5156
Fax: (905) 574-2840
E-mail: michelle.church@oua.ca
Web: www.oua.ca