U SPORTS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: PIERS DE GREEFF

KINGSTON, Ontario – Trinity Western rookie outside Piers de Greeff was named U SPORTS Rookie of the Year at the All-Canadian Awards Ceremony in Kingston, Ont., the site of the 2024 championship tournament. De Greeff earned the award after posting 193 kills, 115 digs and 0.33 blocks per set in 19 games this season while helping the Spartans to a third-place finish in the Canada West regular season.
 
The first-year outside hitter from Victoria also led the Spartans in digs per set at 1.39 and was third for kills (193), kills per set (2.33), points (217), and points per set (2.6) helping his Spartans to a 16-8 regular season record and a berth in the U SPORTS championship after advancing to the Canada West final.
 
The Pacific Christian School alumnus is the fourth Trinity Western player to nab rookie-of-the-year honours, following Eric Loeppky (2017), Adam Schriemer (2014), and Chris Meehan (2002). Schriemer and Loeppky both went on to capture national player of the year awards later in their careers.
 
Other nominees: Lex Guimond (UNB), Brady Paterson (McMaster)
 
HEAD COACH ADAM SCHRIEMER
“Piers came in this year game-ready at every phase, which is rare. There isn’t a phase in which he is deficient at. He’s become an elite spiker, an elite passer, and an elite blocker and his serving and defence has grown a lot over the year. Because he’s been so good in so many phases, he’s been able to impact us so much this year and he’s been able to be great in our league very quickly.
 
“What makes Piers great is that he’s an incredible learner. If you tell Piers something or you show him something, he’s able to implement that right away. His ability to gather information and apply it instantly is super rare, which makes him so elite and make it really exciting to see what he’ll do over the next four years.”
 
Trinity Western finished second in Canada West and is the No. 4 seed at the national championship. The Spartans finished the Canada West regular season in 16-8 and in third place, and qualified for their 12^th straight Canada West gold medal match, where they lost to No. 2 seed Alberta 3-1.
 
The Spartans open their quest for their eighth, and second straight, U SPORTS Championship Thursday at 6 p.m. (ET) against the No. 5 Queen’s Gaels.

2024 MEN’S VOLLEYBALL AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS
 
Player of the year: Isaac Heslinga (Alberta)
Rookie of the year: Piers de Greeff (Trinity Western)
Dale Iwanoczko Award (student-athlete community service): Scott Mann (UNB)
Fox 40 Coach of the Year: Pat Hennelly (Thompson Rivers)
 
First Team All-Canadians
Athlete/University/Pos/Year/Hometown/Academic Program
Isaac Heslinga/Alberta/OH/3/Orangeville, Ont./Engineering
Jonathan Portelance/Sherbrooke/S/3/Sherbrooke, Que./Education
Zachary Hollands/Sherbrooke/OH/3/Victoriaville, Que./Elec. Engineering
Erik Siksna/Queen’s/OH/4/Markham, Ont./Commerce
Maxime Gratton/McMaster/OH/4/Ottawa, Ont./Social Psychology
Chris Byam/Mount Royal/OH/4/Bow Island, Alta./Physical Education
Henry Rempel/Trinity Western/OPP/4/Swift Current, Sask./Human Kinetics
 
Second Team All-Canadians
Athlete/University/Pos/Year/Hometown/Academic Program
Nicolas Fortin/Laval/OH/4/Clermont, Que./Immunology (Master’s)
Jonathan Girard/Laval/MB/4/Donnacona, Que./M.B.A.
Jonathan Pickett/Guelph/S/Lib/4/Wiarton, Ont./Sport & Event Management
Darian Koskie/Windsor/MB/3/Winnipeg, Man./Business Administration
Brendan Mills/McMaster/OH/3/London, Ont./Environment & Society
Isiah Olfert/Winnipeg/OH/4/Winnipeg, Man./Kinesiology & Applied Health
Mason Greves /UBC/S/3/Calgary, Alta./Natural Resources Conservation
 
All-Rookie Team
Athlete/University/Pos/Hometown/Academic Program
Piers de Greeff/Trinity Western/OH/Victoria, B.C./Human Kinetics
Lex Guimond/UNB/MB/Baie-Ste-Anne, N.B./Kinesiology
Brady Paterson/McMaster/OH/Baden, Ont./Social Sciences
Jack Svendsen/Nipissing/S/Whitby, Ont./Business Administration
Quintin Greenidge/Windsor/Lib/Hamilton, Ont./Environmental Science
Grant Hill/Mount Royal/S/Calgary, Alta./Business
Jacob Baird/Saskatchewan/MB/Daisy Hill, Qld.,/Australia/Arts & Science
 
-TW-