York’s Ramirez honoured as ArcelorMittal Dofasco U SPORTS athlete of the week

TORONTO (U Sports) –Iullia Pakhomenko from the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack and Brandon Ramirez of the York Lions are the ArcelorMittal Dofasco U SPORTS female and male athletes of the week for the period ending January 8, 2017.

Pakhomenko, a 5^th-year business major from Donetsk, Ukraine, posted a combined 62 kills in a weekend split with Calgary. The veteran outside hitter and former BLG Award nominee for U SPORTS Female Athlete of the Year, recorded back-to-back 31-kill performances as the Wolfpack defeated the Dinos 3-1 on Friday before falling by the same score on Saturday. The 62 kills set a new record for most by a Canada West women's volleyball player in a weekend set. Pakhomenko leads the nation in kills with 216 and kills/set at 4.91.

Hockey players Kassidy Nauboris from the UOIT Ridgebacks and Katelyn Steele of the Carleton Raves, along with Memorial Sea-Hawks basketball player Sydney Stewart were also nominated for the women's award.

Ramirez, a second-year geography student from Scarborough, Ont., averaged 32.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in a breakthrough weekend against Windsor and Western. The Lions forward recorded his first career double-double with 31 points and 15 rebounds on 68 per cent shooting in an 83-78 loss to the Lancers. The next night, Ramirez posted a career-high 34 points to go along with eight rebounds in an 81-78 loss to Mustangs. Accounting for 44 per cent of the Lions' points in the pair of the contests, Ramirez ranks sixth in the country with 21.0 points per game.

Saskatchewan Huskies volleyball player Derek Epp, and basketball players Ibrahima Sylla of the UQAM Citadins as well as Julius Antoine of the StFX X-Men were the other male nominees. 

Female nominees:

AUS: Sydney Stewart, basketball, Memorial

RSEQ: Katelyn Steel, hockey, Carleton

OUA: Kassidy Nauboris, hockey, UOIT

CWUAA: Iullia Pakhomenko, volleyball, Thompson Rivers (recipient)

Male nominees:

AUS: Julius Antoine, basketball, StFX

RSEQ: Ibrahima Sylla, basketball, UQAM

OUA: Brandon Ramirez, basketball, York (recipient)

CWUAA: Derek Epp, volleyball, Saskatchewan

Source: U SPORTS