WVB: Surinx named CW Player of the Year

March 6, 2024 - Manitoba's Raya Surinx has been named the 2024 Canada West Women's Volleyball Player of the Year.

Surinx continued her upward trajectory with a dominant sophomore campaign, coming off a dynamic debut last season where she was named the conference's Rookie of the Year. She led the nation in kills in 2023-24 with 388 – 70 more than anyone else – and also led the country with 4.85 kills per set, helping Manitoba to a regular season program record of 20 wins.

A pair of UBC Thunderbirds were recognized as Kacey Jost took home Libero of the Year for the second straight season, while Doug Reimer was recognized as Coach of the Year. Abby Guezen of Alberta was named top rookie, while Winnipeg's Taylor Cangemi received the Student-Athlete Community Service Award.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Raya Surinx, Manitoba

In just her second season of eligibility, Raya Surinx has been named the Canada West Player of the Year. Surinx is the first Bison to receive the honour since Rachel Cockrell in 2015, and the third player overall since the Bisons joined the Canada West conference (Kathy Preston, 2002).

Surinx was dominant in 2023-24, leading the nation in kills with 388 – 70 more than anyone else – despite missing the last two games of league play. She also led the country with 4.85 kills per set, and her 40 aces were sixth in the nation and fourth in Canada West, helping Manitoba to a regular season program record of 20 wins.

Surinx’s 388 kills are the eighth most in a Canada West season, and the second most by a Bison in the rally scoring era (Cockrell had 471 in 2014-15). Her kills per set average is also the second-most in a season in the rally scoring era, just behind Cockrell (5.06).

In just two years, Surinx’s 84 career regular season aces are already the second-most in Bisons history in the rally scoring era and 18th all-time in school history. Meanwhile, her 671 career kills place her 20^th all-time in school history.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Abby Guezen, Alberta

Making a profound impact in leading the young Alberta Pandas to an 18-6 record, first-year outside Abby Guezen has been named the Canada West Rookie of the Year.

Guezen finished her debut season with 184 kills, 122 digs, 27 blocks and 218.0 points. Her 2.97 kills per set ranked 10^th in Canada West, and was far and away the best by any first-year player in 2023-24.

Her 184 kills were third on the Pandas, with her 2.97 kills per set ranking second only to first team All-Star Lauryn Tremblay’s 3.32. Along with fellow All-Rookie team member Ronnie Dickson, the Pandas improved their record by eight games from the year before, earning the No. 5 seed in CW.

Guezen is the fifth Panda to be named the Canada West Rookie of the Year, and will move forward as the CW nominee for the Mark Tennant U SPORTS Rookie of the Year Award.

“Abby had a tremendous season, and has already established herself as one of the top outsides in Canada West in just her first season. Abby has a very bright future, and I can’t wait to see what she is able to accomplish over the course of her volleyball career.” -Carolyn O’Dwyer, Head Coach, Alberta Pandas

LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Kacey Jost, UBC

For the second straight year, UBC Thunderbird Kacey Jost has been recognized as Canada West’s Libero of the Year.

The fifth-year from St. Albert, Alberta amassed 270 total digs in her final Canada West regular season, an average of 3.21 per set. Appearing in all but one of UBC’s 85 sets played, Jost allowed just 12 service aces against while leading the conference’s top defensive team which lost just 15 sets over the course of the entire season while limiting opponents to a hitting percentage under .100. ​

Thanks in large part to Jost’s solid leadership on defence, the T-Birds finished the campaign 22-2 in first place in the Canada West for the first time in ten years.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Doug Reimer, UBC

Leading the UBC Thunderbirds to first place in the conference with a 22-2 record, Doug Reimer has been named the 2023-24 Canada West Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year.

His first conference honour since 2009-10 and his third all-time with UBC, Reimer led the T-Birds to the top of the standings and home court advantage throughout the Canada West playoffs for the first time in 10 years. This, despite graduating six members of last year’s national championship winning team.

The T-Birds finished the regular season second in hitting percentage (.249), fourth in kills-per-set (12.26) and first in points-per-set (17.6).

Reimer’s 27^th season with the T-Birds saw one of the most dominant regular seasons in program history having lost just 15 total sets over 24 matches. The ten-time U SPORTS champion head coach (nine of which have been with UBC), is on a quest for the T-Birds’ first back-to-back national titles since he led the team to six straight banners between 2008 and 2013.

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Taylor Cangemi, Winnipeg

Cangemi is honoured with the Student-Athlete Community Service award, recognizing her dedication to embracing all that it means to be a student-athlete.

On the court, the third-year libero from Calgary was a conference leader at her position, placing fourth in digs per set and fifth in total digs. Off the court, Cangemi has thrived in the classroom with a sparkling 4.49/4.5 GPA, while also embracing numerous volunteer roles and never turning down an opportunity to share her love of biology with others.

Cangemi is a leader in the area of field biology and is committed to nature, wildlife ecology, physiology, and conservation research. She has spent the past two summers giving her time to the North American Society for Bat Research (NASBR), promoting the study and conservation of bats. She also presented at the 2023 North American Symposium and has spent many hours presenting on wildlife ecology at local schools through public outreach programs. This summer she has committed to participating in a Sea Turtle Internship at Caño Palma Research Station in Costa Rica, where she will gain experience with an international research team.

Her volunteerism throughout the season was extensive, including coaching at various sport camps around the city of Winnipeg, representing the student-athlete body on the Wesmen Athlete Council, and participating in the University of Winnipeg Wildlife Society and Research Week.

"Taylor is an incredible young woman. She is a dedicated student-athlete who trains towards personal excellence in all aspects of her life. She commits herself to improving as a U SPORTS athlete at every practice and off-court training situation. Her dedication in the classroom has allowed her to be recognized as an Academic All-Canadian in all four years at the University of Winnipeg." -Phil Hudson, Head Coach, Winnipeg Wesmen