Wesmen volleyball’s Larry McKay named national coach of the year

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This article was published 15/03/2018 (3124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two members of the University of Winnipeg Wesmen men’s volleyball team earned major awards in Hamilton, Ont., on Thursday.

Head coach Larry McKay was named national coach of the year for the third time in his career, and graduating fifth-year libero Logan Brennan was named the Dale Iwanoczko Award winner for community service.

McKay completed his 29th season at the helm of the Wesmen, guiding the No. 7-ranked team to a 15-9 record and one win shy of a berth in the national championship tournament.

Winnipeg was beaten this past week by the No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds for the Canada West bronze medal.

McKay previously won the award in 1992-93 and 2001-02.

Brennan, a product of Bragg Creek, Alta., is a four-year academic all-Canadian who has dedicated much of his spare time to volunteering endeavours.

Throughout his time at U of W, Brennan has been committed to volunteer work while maintaining an impressive academic record that led to him being the university’s nominee for a Rhodes Scholarship.

“He’s an exceptional young man that has amassed an academic record second to none, has an outside academic community service record that is so lengthy, it’s incredible, the things he’s done in his spare time,” McKay said in a release.

“I simply admire the young man and am grateful to have had him on our team.”

Bisons earn national honours

University of Manitoba blue-liner Erica Rieder has been named to the U Sports women’s hockey all-Canadian second team, while goaltender Lauren Taraschuk has been named to the all-rookie squad.

The duo joined Manitoba head coach Jon Rempel, the country’s coach of the year, Wednesday on the award podium in London, Ont., where No. 1-ranked Bisons are preparing for today’s national quarter-final game against the Queen’s Gaels.

Rieder, 21, is in her fourth year at Manitoba. The Winnipegger was tied for fourth in the conference in scoring among defencemen in 2017-18 with 11 points, including seven goals, while playing in all 28 conference regular-season games.

Taraschuk, an 18-year-old from Winnipeg, was first in U Sports and Canada West goals-against average at 0.71 and also second in the country and conference in save percentage with a mark of .961 while also posting a 10-2-0 record.