Gaels de Goede, Gryphons Dresser earn OUA Athlete of the Week honours
Burlington, Ont. – Sophie de Goede and Gideon Dresser have been named Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Athletes of the Week for the period ending November 3, 2019.
Female Athlete of the Week – Sophie de Goede, Queen’s Gaels, Rugby
After topping the conference charts, OUA Player of the Year Sophie de Goede continued to shine for her Queen’s Gaels squad as they took on the best of the best from across the country this weekend in Ottawa.
At the U SPORTS Championship, the Gaels No. 8 led her team to a 55-10 victory over the Acadia Axewomen in the quarterfinals and a 38-10 semifinal win over the host Ottawa Gee-Gees, seeing Queen’s to their first national silver since 2015. de Goede was integral for the Gaels in the championship game against the Laval Rouge et Or. With the Gaels down 12-0, de Goede hit a successful conversion after McKinley Hunt scored the Gaels first try of the match to trail 12-7. de Goede closed the gap to within five again in the second half. She got the ball out of the ruck and ran in the try, connecting on the following conversion attempt to cut the lead to 19-14.
de Goede was named a Nike Top Performer for her efforts against Ottawa and the All-Canadian also had a huge impact with several conversions in Queen’s blowout performance to defeat Acadia. For her spectacular play this past week, de Goede earned her third straight championship All-Star selection, the most ever for a Queen’s women’s rugby athlete.
Male Athlete of the Week – Gideon Dresser, Guelph Gryphons, Volleyball
For the first time in 39 years, the Guelph Gryphons men’s volleyball team has started a season 4-0. This past week, second-year setter Gideon Dresser was instrumental in helping the Gryphons continue their impressive start to the season, with the team picking up a pair of road wins over two nationally-ranked opponents.
On Wednesday night in London, Dresser recorded 34 assists and four digs in Guelph’s straight sets win over the No. 10-ranked Western Mustangs to help the Gryphons improve to 3-0 on the season. Three nights later in Windsor, the Gryphons won in five sets over the No. 8-ranked Windsor Lancers to improve to 4-0 with Gideon Dresser once again helping lead the way. The mathematical science major from Winnipeg, Man. racked up 35 assists and 13 digs to go along with one ace and one block assist.
This has been the best start for the Gryphons since 1980, when the team posted an undefeated 10-0 record during the regular season before finishing 3rd overall in the province that season.
