Katherine Heard (Women’s Hockey) & Alexander Odle (Men’s Volleyball) Named Gryph’s Locker Athletes of the Week presented by Core Power

GUELPH, Ont. – Throughout the 2023-24 season, the University of Guelph Department of Athletics will be highlighting various members from our Gryphon varsity program as part of our ‘Gryph’s Locker Athletes of the Week, presented by Core Power’ series. This week’s ‘Gryph’s Locker Athletes of the Week presented by Core Power’ recipients are Katherine Heard (women’s hockey) and Alexander Odle (men’s volleyball) for the period ending January 28, 2024. 
 

Katherine Heard (Women’s Hockey)

20-year-old Arva, Ontario native, Katherine Heard, becomes the fifth member of the University of Guelph’s women’s hockey team to earn ‘Athlete of the Week’ honours this season, with the award coming after back-to-back impact performances for the U SPORTS No.-3 ranked team in the country. Heard, who is in her third year of studies majoring in sociology, picked up two points in back-to-back wins over the Laurier Golden Hawks and Nipissing Lakers. On Wednesday night (Jan. 24) at the Gryphon Centre, the Gryphons earned a 3-0 victory over the Golden Hawks to take the season series, with Heard picking up a primary assist on Tori Verbeek’s second period goal to put the Gryphons up by two. Her assist came on a shot fired through traffic that deflected off the Laurier goaltender and right onto the stick of Verbeek. Two days later (Jan. 26) at Memorial Gardens in North Bay, the Gryphons were taking on the No. 6 nationally-ranked and OUA East-leading Nipissing Lakers in a battle between the OUA’s top two teams. Tied 1-1 in overtime, the Gryphons received their second power play of the extra frame and their best chance to take a 6-point advantage over the Lakers in the conference standings. After taking the puck away from a Nipissing defender along the boards, Heard skated into the slot and fired a wrist shot between the pads of the Nipissing goaltender for her second game-winning goal of the campaign. 

With two points added to her season total, Heard has now doubled her career-high from a year ago and holds the fourth-best point total (14) on the Gryphon roster. Her overtime power play goal against the Lakers also marked her fourth power play goal of the season, which ties her with Nipissing’s Katie Chomiak for most in the OUA. The overtime winner improves the Gryphon record to 20-1-2 (wins-losses-OTL) on the season and extends their win streak to an incredible 12 games, with their last loss coming back in November. The Gryphons are also currently just one win away from tying a program-record of 21 wins in a single regular season, and with five games remaining on the schedule. 
 

Alexander Odle (Men’s Volleyball)

For the second consecutive week, a member of the U SPORTS No. 8-ranked Gryphon men’s volleyball team has earned ‘Athlete of the Week’ honours. Fourth-year outside hitter, Alexander Odle, takes home the honour after a pair of impressive performances against the Windsor Lancers this past weekend. The 22-year-old appeared in all five sets of the Gryphons Friday night (Jan. 26) matchup with the Lancers, and despite the U of G team suffering a hard-fought loss, Odle produced a career-high 20 points. The Burlington native recorded 18 kills, also a career-best, with a .467 hitting percentage while adding two blocks. The following night in a rematch against the Lancers, Odle produced a 12-point, 10-kill performance with 3 total blocks to help the Gryphons bounce back and capture a 3-1 win. Odle was particularly impactful in the Gryphons fourth-set performance to solidify the win, where he recorded five of his 12 points on the night. With 32 points on the weekend the economics major now has 98 on the season, the 5th-most on the team, and 82 kills, good enough for the 3rd-most on the University of Guelph men’s volleyball team. 

Performances like the one the Gryphons received from Odle this past weekend are one of the many reasons the Gryphons have been among the best teams in the OUA all season long. With their most recent win, the Gryphons move back into a tie with the Brock Badgers for the top spot in the conference standings thanks to a 13-3 record. The Gryphons also hold a single-game advantage over the No. 3-ranked, and 3rd-seeded, McMaster Marauders and are three games ahead of the No. 5-ranked Queen’s Gaels. With just four games remaining on the regular season schedule, the Gryphons will be looking to Odle and other veteran student-athletes to help solidify a top seed in the 2024 OUA men’s volleyball playoffs. The team’s next test comes in just under two weeks, with the Gryphons receiving a bye this week, and then traveling to Kingston to take on the Queen’s Gaels in two games (Feb. 9 & 10) before returning to Guelph for a doubleheader against the TMU Bold (Feb. 16 & 17) to close out the regular season.
 

2023-24 Gryphon Athletes of the Week

*Indicates U SPORTS Athlete of the Week
*Indicates OUA Athlete of the Week