VANCOUVER, BC –
Charlene Robitaille of McGill University has earned All-Canadian status in women's volleyball for the second consecutive season. The announcement was made Thursday night at the U SPORTS awards reception, held at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver, the host city of the national championship tournament, presented by Mikasa.
The Final Eight tourney gets underway Friday with quarter-finals at the War Memorial Gym on UBC's Point Grey campus. Eighth-seeded McGill will open against top-seeded Trinity Western at 6 p.m. (Eastern). The semifinals are slated for Saturday, followed by Sunday's medal round, including the championship contest, which is set for 7:30 p.m. (Eastern). All 11 games of the tournament can be viewed for free on CBC Sports digital platforms (English) and at usports.ca (French).
Robitaille, a 24-year-old native of St. Jean, Que., is a three-time conference all-star who has now merited second-team All-Canadian honours after making the first-team last season. Since 1997, McGill has had 17 All-Canadian laureates, including repeat recipients, spread over 10 different players.
This year, the six-foot middle blocker played in 66 of the team's 69 sets and ranked fifth among league leaders in stuff blocks (0.79 per set). She was sixth in hitting percentage (.241), ninth in aces (0.35 per set), 10th in scoring (3.05 pts per set), 11th in kills (2.23 per set) and 12th in digs (2.30 per set). She added 10 solo stuff blocks, 42 assisted blocks and 21 assists.
A co-captain with the Martlets, Robitaille is working on a diploma in management after graduating last year with a science degree in dietetics. She was recruited to McGill in 2018 out of College Edouard-Montpetit and made the RSEQ all-rookie team. Last year, she was voted conference player of the year.
Among the other U SPORTS major award winners announced on Thursday was Fraser Valley's
Gabrielle Attieh (player of the year), Manitoba's
Raya Surinx (rookie of the year), McMaster's
Christina Stratford (leadership and community service award) and UQAM's
Claude Tremblay (coach of the year).
LIST OF McGILL WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ALL-CANADIANS
| 1997-98 |
Wendy Whelan |
Volleyball (W) |
1st |
| 2000-01 |
Shauna Forster |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
| 2001-02 |
Shauna Forster |
Volleyball (W) |
1st |
| 2005-06 |
Jennifer Thomson |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
| 2006-07 |
Jennifer Thomson |
Volleyball (W) |
1st |
| 2007-08 |
Jennifer Thomson |
Volleyball (W) |
1st |
| 2008-09 |
Jennifer Thomson |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
| 2009-10 |
Jennifer Thomson |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
| 2010-11 |
Kelsey Irwin |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
| 2011-12 |
Kaiva Mateus |
Volleyball (W) |
1st |
| 2013-14 |
Daphnée-Maude André-Morin |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
| 2015-16 |
Myriam Robitaille |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
| 2015-16 |
Yasmeen Dawoodjee |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
| 2017-18 |
Myriam Robitaille |
Volleyball (W) |
1st |
| 2018-19 |
Claire Vercheval |
Volleyball (W) |
1st |
| 2021-22 |
Charlene Robitaille |
Volleyball (W) |
1st |
| 2022-23 |
Charlene Robitaille |
Volleyball (W) |
2nd |
2023 U SPORTS WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Gabrielle Attieh, Fraser Valley
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Raya Surinx, Manitoba
ACADEMICS & COMMUNITY SERVICE: Christina Stratford, McMaster
COACH OF THE YEAR: Claude Tremblay, UQAM
FIRST TEAM ALL-CANADIANS
Pos / Athlete / University / Year / Hometown / Academic Program
OUTSIDE HITTER: Lucy Glen-Carter, Dalhousie, 4, Toronto, Ont., Physiotherapy
FORWARD: Sabrina Mayer, UQAM, 4, Longueuil, Qué., Human Kinetics
OUTSIDE HITTER:Janelle Albert, Western, 5, Brampton, Ont., Brescia College
OUTSIDE HITTER:Gabrielle Attieh, UFV, 4, Surrey, B.C., Arts
SETTER: Quinn Pelland, Mount Royal, 5, Wanham, Alta., Business
OUTSIDE HITTER:Savannah Purdy, TWU, 4, Victoria, B.C., Psychology
SECOND TEAM ALL-CANADIANS
Pos / Athlete / University / Year / Hometown / Academic Program
LEFT SIDE: Olivia Bell, Saint Mary's, 4, Lahave, N.S. Commerce
FORWARD: Olympe Desmedt, Montréal, 4, Cannes, France Management
MIDDLE BLOCKER: Charlene Robitaille, McGill, 5, St. Jean, Qué., Management
MIDDLE BLOCKER: Grace Pyatt, Brock, 5, Thorold, Ont. Gerontology
OUTSIDE HITTER: Sullie Sundara, McMaster, 2, Kanata, Ont. Social sciences
OUTSIDE HITTER: Emma Parker, Winnipeg, 5, St. Adolphe, Man. Science
OUTSIDE HITTER: Sydney Grills, UBCO, 3, Vancouver, B.C Arts
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Pos / Athlete / University / Year / Hometown / Academic Program
OUTSIDE HITTER: Heather Benko, UNB, Sechelt, B.C., Arts
MIDDLE BLOCKER: Taylor Lougheed, Saint Mary's, Calgary, Alta., Commerce
FORWARD: Anica Pineault, UQAM, Boucherville, Qué., Physical Activity Intervention
MIDDLE BLOCKER: Milica Djordjevic, Montréal, Montréal, Qué. Psychology
OUTSIDE HITTER: Oceane Raymond-Leduc, Nipissing, Ottawa, Ont., Education
LEFT SIDE: Aliah Admans, Windsor, London, Ont., Psychology
OUTSIDE HITTER: Raya Surinx, Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man., (undeclared)
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
