WINNIPEG – Trinity Western University’s Savannah Purdy (Victoria) has been named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian and Avery Heppell (Langley, B.C.) has been named a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian.
For Heppell and Purdy, the honours marks their first recognition as U SPORTS All-Canadians, after both were named Canada West First Team All-Stars. This is the second time each of them have been honoured on the national stage after they were named to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team in their respective years, with Heppell recognized in 2017-18 and Purdy in 2018-19.
Heppell, who will graduate this spring, has spent her final season as a Spartan hitting the ball efficiently, finishing second in Canada West and fourth in U SPORTS for kill percentage as she hit .377 on the season while averaging 2.33 kills per set for the Spartans this season. As an integral piece for the Spartans up the middle of the court, Heppell, who spent last summer with Team Canada’s NextGen program, helped TWU go on a 6-1 playoff run to win its third straight Canada West championship.
Purdy, who stands as one of TWU’s key players on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, averaged 2.88 kills per set on the season to lead the Spartans. Purdy’s season was highlighted statistically by her work at the service line, as she set a TWU single-season record by leading the country in aces per set, with 0.71.
The All-Canadian duo will help lead the No. 1-seeded Spartans into the 2022 U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship, which start Friday with TWU playing the host University of Calgary at 6 p.m. (MT). All games can be viewed for free worldwide on www.cbcsports.ca.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women’s rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men’s rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.
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