March 16, 2022
Past award winners add to their accolades amidst latest round of men's volleyball honourees
Burlington, Ont. - After making an award-winning splash in their respective debut Ontario University Athletics (OUA) seasons, a pair of former top rookies have added most valuable player accolades to their university resumes, headlining the decorated list of award winners and all-stars from the 2021-22 OUA men's volleyball season.
It was just a season ago the Queen's Erik Siksna took home his first OUA award, being named the conference's rookie of the year in 2019-20, and after the cancelled campaign that followed, the Gaels outside hitter has swung for the fences in his sophomore season.
The East Division MVP was a force to be reckoned with regardless of his position on the court. At the net, he led the Kingston squad in kills with 108, good for 3.09 per set, and added a second-best mark of 15 aces when he stepped up to serve. He was also second on the team in digs with 49, chipping in with three assists, 17 blocks, and a team-best 135 points on the year. The Markham, Ont. native and commerce major was also part of Team Canada for the FIVB Men's U21 World Championship in 2021, helping the team to a 10th-place finish at the event.
It may be just his second season in the OUA, but the accolades have continued to pile up for the former national all-rookie team member and OUA all-star, and he capped off his all-star campaign by becoming the Gaels fourth MVP in program history.
Unlike the Gaels, the Brock Badgers had yet to house an MVP honour as part of the program history books, but that all changed this season thanks to the efforts of senior outside hitter Logan House.
The fourth-year talent from Barrie, Ont. was the centre of the Badgers' offence this season and helped the team finish second in the conference in kills per set and hitting percentage, all while collecting a program-best .700 winning percentage on the year. When looking at House's individual contributions to the team, the sport management student connected on a conference-best 4.31 kills per set, while also pacing the national pack with a .405 hitting percentage. His 5.0 points per set, meanwhile, were good for second.
In what has been a consistently productive season for House, the St. Catharines team standout reeled off perhaps his best showing in back-to-back games against Windsor in February, which included a season's best 25.5 point performance, for which he was selected as the OUA athlete of the week.
From past top rookie recipients to current ones, this season's first-year phenoms come from the Rams and Marauders, respectively.
East Division standout Jacob Walker becomes the fifth player in Rams program history to earn the honour, and he does so on the heels of a well-rounded OUA debut. The business management student from Stouffville, Ont. saw his name listed among the top-10 across several statistical categories this season, including total points (143.0; 8th in OUA), kills per set (3.18; 9th in OUA), and total attacks (287; 6th in OUA). His potent play also extended to the service line, where ranked fifth in the conference with 16 aces.
It wasn't just on an individual level that Walker thrived; however, as he played an integral role for the Rams as a whole, as the team finished fourth in the competitive East Division and secured their first playoff victory since the 2017-18 season.
Fellow outside hitter Maxime Gratton was also among the league's elite in his foray onto the university scene, immediately impacting the powerhouse McMaster program as their seventh OUA rookie of the year selection.
In addition to cracking the top-20 with 2.9 points per set and 2.44 kills per set, the Ottawa, Ont. product added 13 service aces (10th in OUA) and ranked fifth in league with a .326 hitting percentage. Looking closer at the impressive rookie campaign, Gratton's strongest stretches came to both open and close the year, registering a career-best 14 points in just his second OUA match, before reeling off three straight games of at least 11.5 points to end the regular season.
Gratton's start in the OUA has come under the guidance of one of the best in the business on the sidelines, and after leading the West's top rookie and company to another successful season, McMaster coach Dave Preston has been tabbed as the coach of the year for a sixth time.
The Hamilton, Ont. native becomes the only Marauder coach to earn the honour with that regularity, and in his previous five selections, Preston has been named the national coach of the year on three occasions. En route to his latest honour, Preston saw his Marauders lead the conference in nearly every statistical category, ranking first in kills per set (11.63), hitting percentage (.319), assists per set (11.17), service aces per set (2.63) digs per set (8.93), and points per set (16.8).
Putting together a perfect regular season for the first time since 2017, a season wherein the team finished as U SPORTS bronze medalists, Preston's group is once again looking to turn their success into hardware, and they'll do so with a talent-laden roster that features four all-stars and two all-rookies.
The regular season also brought with it great success for the RMC Paladins, helping head coach Steve Leknois collect coach of the year honours in the East.
Despite playing a reduced number of games in 2021-22, the Paladins, under the tutelage of Leknois, set a program record for regular season wins. The veteran bench boss has led the Paladins since 2002, while they were still competing in the Ontario Collegiate Athletics Association. On the heels of their record-setting season, the team also earned their first playoff berth in program history.
Leknois, a former recipient of the Ontario Volleyball Association recognition award, was a 22-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces prior to joining the Paladins and has proven to be ideally suited to coach future leaders therein. He also has the opportunity to remain in contact with his athletes after graduation as the coach of the Canadian Military Men's National Team.
Extending beyond the sidelines, meanwhile, the final pair of award winners have made their mark both on and off the court for their respective teams and have each earned the Dale Iwanoczko Award of Merit as a result.
Rounding out the honourees from the East is Dan Everton, a fourth-year outside hitter from Penticton, B.C. The Lions senior, who boasts a perfect 9.0 GPA in biochemistry, is a three-time academic all-Canadian and is on track for the same honour this season. He is also currently publishing his undergraduate thesis.
Beyond academics, Everton has also been an active member of the York community. He is a PAWS mentor, which is a first-year student-athlete mentoring program; a member of the York Black and Indigenous Varsity Student-Athlete Alliance; a York Sport Council executive member; and a member of team leadership council.
Another student-athlete that has extended their reach in all facets of their post-secondary experience is Western's Amit Sayal, who wraps up the 2021-22 list of recipients. A team captain for the Mustangs this season, Sayal was a focal point of the Mustangs attack, finishing 11th in the conference with his 230, but he also swung for the fences in the classroom and community.
The perennial academic all-Canadian has been a mainstay on the dean's honour roll, is the recipient of the Western Scholarship of Excellence, and is the only kinesiology student of the 2022 graduating class that was accepted into the Scholars Electives Program.
Beyond academics, the health science major from Richmond Hill, Ont. has also offered up his time to a number of initiatives on campus and within the London community. Sayal started his team's annual blood drive and organized two years of the Bell Let's Talk campaign for the Western volleyball contingent. He also started Mustangs in the House, a program for high school and rep athletes in the area to teach them about the benefits of becoming a varsity athlete. Sayal is also part of the Student Athletic Mentorship Program at Western, and if that's not enough, he is entering his seventh month of volunteering with STEM2STERN, a charitable organization that teaches underprivileged youth life skills through woodworking and construction.
The complete list of 2021-22 OUA men's volleyball award winners and all-stars is as follows:
Award Winners
East Division
Most Valuable Player - Erik Siksna, Queen's
Rookie of the Year - Jacob Walker, Rams
Coach of the Year - Steve Leknois, RMC
Dale Iwanoczko Award of Merit - Dan Everton, York
West Division
Most Valuable Player - Logan House, Brock
Rookie of the Year - Maxime Gratton, McMaster
Coach of the Year - Dave Preston, McMaster
Dale Iwanoczko Award of Merit - Amit Sayal, Western
All-Stars
East Division
First Team
Erik Siksna, Queen's
Jackson Young, Nipissing
Zane Grossinger, Toronto
Evan Falardeau, Toronto
Andrew Tauhid, York
Lachlan McBride, Queen's
Lhexen Rabit, Rams
Second Team
Mitchell Neuert, Toronto
Lukas Kaufman, Queen's
Michael Rowsell, RMC
Tyrus Cuculick, Nipissing
Saad Shaikh, Rams
Cole Duncanson, Queen's
Daniel Tudor, Toronto
All-Rookies
Jacob Walker, Rams
Cole Duncanson, Queen's
Jasraj Nijjar, York
Hunter Arulpragasam, Toronto
Thomas Wrigley, Nipissing
Lucas Yang, Rams
Adam Reid, RMC
West Division
First Team
Logan House, Brock
Sam Cooper, McMaster
Jonathan Pickett, Guelph
Jackson Bere, Western
Jordan Pereira, McMaster
Liam MacArthur, Waterloo
Steven Abrams, Windsor
Second Team
Mateusz Wlodarski, McMaster
Grant Reddon, Brock
Colm Guyn, Waterloo
Dami Alalade, Windsor
Wojtek Kraj, McMaster
Josiah Esau, Western
Ben Kissack, Guelph
All-Rookies
Maxime Gratton, McMaster
Liam MacArthur, Waterloo
Robbie Fujisawa, McMaster
Jonah Millard, Western
Gustavo Siqueira, Windsor
Jacob Ferland, Brock
Joshua Glasbergen, Guelph
It was just a season ago the Queen's Erik Siksna took home his first OUA award, being named the conference's rookie of the year in 2019-20, and after the cancelled campaign that followed, the Gaels outside hitter has swung for the fences in his sophomore season.
The East Division MVP was a force to be reckoned with regardless of his position on the court. At the net, he led the Kingston squad in kills with 108, good for 3.09 per set, and added a second-best mark of 15 aces when he stepped up to serve. He was also second on the team in digs with 49, chipping in with three assists, 17 blocks, and a team-best 135 points on the year. The Markham, Ont. native and commerce major was also part of Team Canada for the FIVB Men's U21 World Championship in 2021, helping the team to a 10th-place finish at the event.
It may be just his second season in the OUA, but the accolades have continued to pile up for the former national all-rookie team member and OUA all-star, and he capped off his all-star campaign by becoming the Gaels fourth MVP in program history.
Unlike the Gaels, the Brock Badgers had yet to house an MVP honour as part of the program history books, but that all changed this season thanks to the efforts of senior outside hitter Logan House.
The fourth-year talent from Barrie, Ont. was the centre of the Badgers' offence this season and helped the team finish second in the conference in kills per set and hitting percentage, all while collecting a program-best .700 winning percentage on the year. When looking at House's individual contributions to the team, the sport management student connected on a conference-best 4.31 kills per set, while also pacing the national pack with a .405 hitting percentage. His 5.0 points per set, meanwhile, were good for second.
In what has been a consistently productive season for House, the St. Catharines team standout reeled off perhaps his best showing in back-to-back games against Windsor in February, which included a season's best 25.5 point performance, for which he was selected as the OUA athlete of the week.
From past top rookie recipients to current ones, this season's first-year phenoms come from the Rams and Marauders, respectively.
East Division standout Jacob Walker becomes the fifth player in Rams program history to earn the honour, and he does so on the heels of a well-rounded OUA debut. The business management student from Stouffville, Ont. saw his name listed among the top-10 across several statistical categories this season, including total points (143.0; 8th in OUA), kills per set (3.18; 9th in OUA), and total attacks (287; 6th in OUA). His potent play also extended to the service line, where ranked fifth in the conference with 16 aces.
It wasn't just on an individual level that Walker thrived; however, as he played an integral role for the Rams as a whole, as the team finished fourth in the competitive East Division and secured their first playoff victory since the 2017-18 season.
Fellow outside hitter Maxime Gratton was also among the league's elite in his foray onto the university scene, immediately impacting the powerhouse McMaster program as their seventh OUA rookie of the year selection.
In addition to cracking the top-20 with 2.9 points per set and 2.44 kills per set, the Ottawa, Ont. product added 13 service aces (10th in OUA) and ranked fifth in league with a .326 hitting percentage. Looking closer at the impressive rookie campaign, Gratton's strongest stretches came to both open and close the year, registering a career-best 14 points in just his second OUA match, before reeling off three straight games of at least 11.5 points to end the regular season.
Gratton's start in the OUA has come under the guidance of one of the best in the business on the sidelines, and after leading the West's top rookie and company to another successful season, McMaster coach Dave Preston has been tabbed as the coach of the year for a sixth time.
The Hamilton, Ont. native becomes the only Marauder coach to earn the honour with that regularity, and in his previous five selections, Preston has been named the national coach of the year on three occasions. En route to his latest honour, Preston saw his Marauders lead the conference in nearly every statistical category, ranking first in kills per set (11.63), hitting percentage (.319), assists per set (11.17), service aces per set (2.63) digs per set (8.93), and points per set (16.8).
Putting together a perfect regular season for the first time since 2017, a season wherein the team finished as U SPORTS bronze medalists, Preston's group is once again looking to turn their success into hardware, and they'll do so with a talent-laden roster that features four all-stars and two all-rookies.
The regular season also brought with it great success for the RMC Paladins, helping head coach Steve Leknois collect coach of the year honours in the East.
Despite playing a reduced number of games in 2021-22, the Paladins, under the tutelage of Leknois, set a program record for regular season wins. The veteran bench boss has led the Paladins since 2002, while they were still competing in the Ontario Collegiate Athletics Association. On the heels of their record-setting season, the team also earned their first playoff berth in program history.
Leknois, a former recipient of the Ontario Volleyball Association recognition award, was a 22-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces prior to joining the Paladins and has proven to be ideally suited to coach future leaders therein. He also has the opportunity to remain in contact with his athletes after graduation as the coach of the Canadian Military Men's National Team.
Extending beyond the sidelines, meanwhile, the final pair of award winners have made their mark both on and off the court for their respective teams and have each earned the Dale Iwanoczko Award of Merit as a result.
Rounding out the honourees from the East is Dan Everton, a fourth-year outside hitter from Penticton, B.C. The Lions senior, who boasts a perfect 9.0 GPA in biochemistry, is a three-time academic all-Canadian and is on track for the same honour this season. He is also currently publishing his undergraduate thesis.
Beyond academics, Everton has also been an active member of the York community. He is a PAWS mentor, which is a first-year student-athlete mentoring program; a member of the York Black and Indigenous Varsity Student-Athlete Alliance; a York Sport Council executive member; and a member of team leadership council.
Another student-athlete that has extended their reach in all facets of their post-secondary experience is Western's Amit Sayal, who wraps up the 2021-22 list of recipients. A team captain for the Mustangs this season, Sayal was a focal point of the Mustangs attack, finishing 11th in the conference with his 230, but he also swung for the fences in the classroom and community.
The perennial academic all-Canadian has been a mainstay on the dean's honour roll, is the recipient of the Western Scholarship of Excellence, and is the only kinesiology student of the 2022 graduating class that was accepted into the Scholars Electives Program.
Beyond academics, the health science major from Richmond Hill, Ont. has also offered up his time to a number of initiatives on campus and within the London community. Sayal started his team's annual blood drive and organized two years of the Bell Let's Talk campaign for the Western volleyball contingent. He also started Mustangs in the House, a program for high school and rep athletes in the area to teach them about the benefits of becoming a varsity athlete. Sayal is also part of the Student Athletic Mentorship Program at Western, and if that's not enough, he is entering his seventh month of volunteering with STEM2STERN, a charitable organization that teaches underprivileged youth life skills through woodworking and construction.
The complete list of 2021-22 OUA men's volleyball award winners and all-stars is as follows:
Award Winners
East Division
Most Valuable Player - Erik Siksna, Queen's
Rookie of the Year - Jacob Walker, Rams
Coach of the Year - Steve Leknois, RMC
Dale Iwanoczko Award of Merit - Dan Everton, York
West Division
Most Valuable Player - Logan House, Brock
Rookie of the Year - Maxime Gratton, McMaster
Coach of the Year - Dave Preston, McMaster
Dale Iwanoczko Award of Merit - Amit Sayal, Western
All-Stars
East Division
First Team
Erik Siksna, Queen's
Jackson Young, Nipissing
Zane Grossinger, Toronto
Evan Falardeau, Toronto
Andrew Tauhid, York
Lachlan McBride, Queen's
Lhexen Rabit, Rams
Second Team
Mitchell Neuert, Toronto
Lukas Kaufman, Queen's
Michael Rowsell, RMC
Tyrus Cuculick, Nipissing
Saad Shaikh, Rams
Cole Duncanson, Queen's
Daniel Tudor, Toronto
All-Rookies
Jacob Walker, Rams
Cole Duncanson, Queen's
Jasraj Nijjar, York
Hunter Arulpragasam, Toronto
Thomas Wrigley, Nipissing
Lucas Yang, Rams
Adam Reid, RMC
West Division
First Team
Logan House, Brock
Sam Cooper, McMaster
Jonathan Pickett, Guelph
Jackson Bere, Western
Jordan Pereira, McMaster
Liam MacArthur, Waterloo
Steven Abrams, Windsor
Second Team
Mateusz Wlodarski, McMaster
Grant Reddon, Brock
Colm Guyn, Waterloo
Dami Alalade, Windsor
Wojtek Kraj, McMaster
Josiah Esau, Western
Ben Kissack, Guelph
All-Rookies
Maxime Gratton, McMaster
Liam MacArthur, Waterloo
Robbie Fujisawa, McMaster
Jonah Millard, Western
Gustavo Siqueira, Windsor
Jacob Ferland, Brock
Joshua Glasbergen, Guelph
